


stupid romantic things

by sanguinedawns



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Law School, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:34:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21982240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguinedawns/pseuds/sanguinedawns
Summary: Sasuke’s mouth loosens around the edges, “You actually enjoy knowing it, huh?”“Yeah,” Naruto rubs the nape of his neck. “I don’t know, I like knowing what you ate, what you did, all that. Is that weird?”“No, it’s quite nice. No one has been this attentive before.”(Naruto loves a challenge so it makes sense he doesn't turn down this one. Lucky for him, Sasuke's been on his side all along.)
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 49
Kudos: 719
Collections: Extraordinary Naruto FanFics





	stupid romantic things

**Author's Note:**

> for the past two months, i have roughly started and abandoned ten different fics from canon to modern to fantasy to [screeching halt]. anyway, i actually finished something would you look at that? loosely inspired by one of p's fav movies (how to lose a guy in 10 days) so ofc this is dedicated to her. love yuuuuh. uh, also, this is extremely self-indulgent i mean look at the setting. it's new york and that's my fav place in the world. so here are my two fav boys in the best city in the world.
> 
> additionally, there are countless references to my fav sitcom and god probably the only person who'll ever catch them won't be reading this screams so lmfao. but it was fun to incorporate them. also, y'all can probably tell by now but 'sora' is my throw away ex-boyfriend character in fics and it isn't necessarily the dude from shippuden fillers, but if u imagine him that's fine. i just like the name and imagine an oc. 
> 
> disclaimer, i can't believe i even have to say this, neither of them are white. if you imagine them as such *chidori noises*
> 
> anyway enjoy lol idk if i even like this i have lost my writing mojo mostly due to my super long fic, but this was a lot of fun. also, thanks k for always being the biggest cheerleader.
> 
> title by the song w the same name by mating ritual.

Naruto budges the door open with his shoulder, the hefty Constitutional Theory textbook flutters in his grip as his body shakes against the stuck door. Another shove into the wood, he finally manages to swing it open, his backpack weighing him down until he drops it by the small table at the entrance of the apartment. There is a set of keys already in the stained-glass bowl, they can’t quite remember how they’d acquired, but now it takes permanent residence on top of the four-pronged table near the front door. To its left there is a stack of mail that he lifts to leaf through, a couple of bank promotions to open a credit card, one letter wrongly addressed to their apartment, but belonging to the russian guy downstairs and one more that’s from the water supply company, in short, a bill.

He wedges the bill under his chin, kicking the door close and walks towards his own bedroom with full hands. Climbing the small step he treads over to the open door of the room, a sight of an unmade bed and upended comforter welcomes him, and the ketchup stained plate that he’s eaten out of is still on his side table right next to the lamp that stopped working back in ‘16. He never got rid of the darn thing.

Tossing his books on the ground, lightly kicking at them until they’re peeking under his bed, he flops onto the mattress and tears open the envelope. It’s September so it’s his turn to pay the bill. Unfolding the paper, he quickly scans over the numbers and gawks at the last one. His surprise. Is short-lived. That’s the last time he’s letting Sai spend the week at theirs. The man takes 2-hour-long showers and their bill clearly reflects that. They don’t even pay for any other utility, but this is enough to leave a sizable dent in their wallets.

He reaches down and tugs out his trusty, especially beaten, iPhone 5 out of the tight pockets of his skinny jeans. Pressing down on the home button he watches the screen come to life and taps on his bank app, checking how much he has in his account, and that too is abysmal.

“Cup ramen for dinner tonight, I guess,” he huffs into the quiet of the afternoon. For a moment he closes his eyes, then wills himself to get out of bed and walks the short distance from his door to the one opposite to it. Not bothering to knock he enters the room, Sasuke’s got an arm under the pillow, a textbook spread open in the curve of another, round-glasses askew, and eyes closed. The soft snores don’t disturb the quiet but appease the harmony of it.

Naruto uses the toes of his covered right foot to take off the shoe from his left, then repeats it for the right, before he crawls under Sasuke’s comforter. The other has an International Intellectual Property exam tomorrow at 8 AM sharp, but he’s been studying all weekend, running on redbull and those smoothies Karin got him hooked on. Naruto shimmies down behind Sasuke, reaching over first to pluck his glasses and places them on the side table, then setting an alarm for an hour from now, and finds himself burying the hook of his nose in the dip of Sasuke’s shoulder blades. Only a few minutes, and sleep is welcoming him into an open embrace.

The trill of the alarm jolts him awake, but also, his best friend who smacks at his face in grumbled frustration. Naruto peels his hand away from his face and turns over to find his phone tucked under the pillow and slides the alarm to turn it off. Sasuke’s chapped voice follows the end of the booming alarm, “What time is it?”

Naruto squints at the tiny font on his screen, his own hand a mammoth in comparison to the small device, “Quarter to 4.”

“Fuck,” Sasuke whistles before sitting upright, straighter too after he rubs the dregs of sleep from his eyes, “I still have to review three whole chapters before going over the last study sheet he passed around.”

Naruto hums before pressing his nose into the pillow. It smells like Sasuke.

“Are you going to sleep here?”

“Give me a few minutes, I’ll get up.”

“Alright, I’m going to make some coffee.” The man slips out of the bed, grabbing a pullover from the chair that’s next to his dresser and steps out. Naruto ends up falling back asleep despite the promise of waking up.

Next morning after his back to back classes, Naruto crashes on their secondhand leather couch, body sinking into the shape of the cushion. His entire body feels like mush and its only late September, so they still have two whole months before this grueling season comes to an end. Turning on the TV, he lets the low humdrum of deadlines, projects and writing assessments that loom over his head drown out. A little over an hour later, the door to the apartment opens.

Sasuke’s got a haggard look to him. Hair loosely tied in a half-ponytail, the shorter bangs still falling over his forehead, deep dark circles from the lack of sleep welling under his eyes, his brown skin lacking the usual luster. Dim, and dull. Naruto gives him a two-finger salute, one hand still shoved inside the party-size barbeque lays, “Take it the exam was terrible?”

“Four case studies,” Sasuke holds up the same number of fingers, “Four case studies and 45 minutes to do them.”

“Ouch,” Naruto winces extending his arm out, “Hug?”

Sasuke grunts noncommittally, tossing his bag at the foot of the couch before kneeing Naruto’s feet so he can sit. Naruto folds his legs so Sasuke can make himself comfortable, then places his socked feet on the other man’s lap. He resumes his rewatch of Wheel of Fortune, the silence dallying between them, and as if he’s talking of the weather, or something equally mundane, Sasuke announces, “Sora broke up with me.”

Naruto hums at first. Then double-takes, eyes widening in shock, he sits up, “What?”

Sasuke shrugs, prying the packet of chips from his hand and stuffing a handful into his mouth, “Yeah, I was at his place before coming home and I guess—well, we broke up.”

“Man, you okay?”

“I think so,” Sasuke ruminates staring at the tv, the crinkled bag in his hands rustles, “I don’t even know, to be honest. We were together for little over a year, I guess, it’s a little shocking.”

“Did he say why?” Naruto scoots closer, legs now crossed, “Is there someone else cause I swear—“

Sasuke snorts, amused at Naruto’s definitely empty threats, “Nah, he isn’t the type to do that. He’s moving down to Philly and knows I don’t believe in long-distance relationships—amongst other things—I guess there was an expiration date to this relationship?”

Naruto wraps his arms around Sasuke’s shoulders who just raises a brow at his antics, not letting go he murmurs, “Shut up and let me console you.”

“Thanks,” Sasuke laughs lightly, “Suppose I’m single now.”

“Welcome to my world,” Naruto snickers and then adds on, in concentrated attention, “But I’m serious if you want Suigetsu and I to TP this dude’s place.”

“What are we, five?”

“Sometimes it’s okay to be childish!”

“You can’t fight anyone, Naruto, you were still being bullied by the kids at the bodega near campus literally last year,” Sasuke deadpans, his face is always so straight when he’s picking on Naruto. It grinds his gears.

Naruto scowls, “You’re lucky you’re freshly heartbroken or I’d deck you for that. Those middle-schoolers were evil!”

“Ah, yes, 4’9 and terribly intimidating.”

Naruto grabs the cushion from behind him and hits Sasuke with it, “Fuck you.”

Sasuke sputters into a peal of laughter, it comes from the back of his throat and he dodges all of Naruto’s hits, the pillow thuds mutely against the arm of the couch and Naruto’s chest loosens knowing his best friend is going to be just okay.

As per tradition, if traditions are made between four extremely sleep-deprived graduate students that have more alcohol and coffee burning through their bloodstreams than, well, actual blood, they convene at the bar that’s two blocks from their apartment and half a street from Karin’s. She rooms with Suigetsu, a recipe for disaster if you were to ask anyone in close proximity to them, but they manage or have been for the better part of last year. Sasuke slides into the booth first, Suigetsu after him and Naruto and Karin opposite to them. Suigetsu’s holding three beer bottles in his hands and Karin’s nursing her own drink she’d gotten earlier.

Sasuke takes a sip of his drink, rolling his eyes at the uncanny quiet, and sighs, “Alright, alright, you can say it.”

Naruto, along with the other two, erupt in unison, “We hated Sora!” Quickly followed by a _dude he was such a douche_ , and one hearty _bro why did he correct everyone like what the fuck who does that_ and of course the very, very relevant _he wasn’t even that hot, Sasuke_.

Naruto watches Sasuke shake his head in a bitten smile. It’s Karin who reaches over and cups his knuckles in her small hands, “You alright, yeah?”

Sasuke shrugs settling into the plush of the booth, _their_ booth, and answers the woman, “Yeah, yeah, it’s strange. Like we dated for a year and I’ve known him even longer than that. And now he’s moving and I’m probably never going to see him again.” As if realizing, he dismissively corrects himself, “Well, not anytime soon at least.”

Jūgo’s the last to arrive and he pulls the seat from one of the empty tables, reaches over and gives Sasuke a reassuring squeeze, “Hey, Sasuke.”

Flattening his palms on top of the table, Suigetsu erupts the somber mood, “Whatever. This guy broke up with you. You know what we’re going to do?”

Naruto raises a finger, “Get shitfaced drunk.”

Suigetsu hollers back, “Get shitfaced drunk!”

“I have early morning administrative law, losers,” Sasuke intones and then protests, “And it’s only a Wednesday.”

“Let’s do shots,” Suigetsu suggests, going to slip out of their booth, “Celebratory shots.”

“What are we celebrating?” Naruto muses.

Sasuke mutters flatly, “My heartbreak.”

Suigetsu kisses the top of his ear sloppily, and Naruto rolls his eyes, “No, dude, for the first time in two years all three of us are single.”

Naruto pauses in the realization, it’s true, it’s usually him and Sasuke who alternate in getting into relationships, but this is pretty rare. Excitedly he cheers, “Dude, imagine all the dick we can get now. This is the trifecta wingmanship.”

Jūgo shakes his head while Sasuke laughs out loud, it’s Karin who’s knocking the back of Naruto’s head, “You’re disgusting.”

Suigetsu wiggles his brows at Sasuke who raises his hands, “Can I have one week of mourning before you two rope me into your mess?”

Naruto whines, rubbing at the back of his head, “What’s wrong with helping heal my best friends’ heartbreak!”

“Through one-night stands?”

Suigetsu deadpans, “It’s an accelerated remedy, Karin, catch up.”

She flips him off.

Later Sasuke excuses himself, turning in for an early night due to his class, but Naruto almost wonders if Sasuke’s brushing this whole break up more than he has to. If he knows one thing, he knows that his best friend is a private person, so he wouldn’t openly grieve over the end of this relationship. But that leaves a curdling in the pit of Naruto’s belly, similar to drinking rotten milk because he wishes Sasuke would rely on him. They should be able to talk about these things, shouldn’t they? They’re friends, best friends.

In the wake of his departure, Naruto kind of draws from the conversation at hand. It’s when Jūgo leaves, too, and it’s just him, Suigetsu and Karin left tending to their lukewarm beers, that he finally pays attention to the topic at hand.

Karin’s cheeks are a healthy shade of pink, but she’s good at holding her liquor, sinking into her seat she loftily says, “This whole breakup is probably the best news you’ve heard all month, huh?”

Naruto’s head is faintly fuzzy, you know how it gets after a couple of bottles, where it’s like someone’s stuffed cotton in your skull and you’re picking it apart to focus on your surroundings, your speech, quite literally everything. Karin shifts her shoulders until the span of her leather jacket weighs down to the curve of her shape, “Sasuke and Sora. Them breaking up is good, yeah?”

“Why the fuck would it be good?” Naruto barely registers the amusement in her tone, pricked at Karin’s blasé attitude.

She mustn’t have expected his response because her face washes into a surprised expression, garnet eyes blinking, “Holy shit.”

Suigetsu slips back in next to her, arm stretching out at the back of the booth, “What are we talking about?”

Karin huffs, puffing up her cheeks and blowing air out, “I can’t believe you were right.” Tugging out her wallet she hands a ten-dollar bill to Suigetsu who glows victoriously, albeit still confused, “What am I right about again?”

A perfectly manicured left-hand points accusingly at Naruto, “This idiot doesn’t know how he feels about a certain someone as you had suggested.”

Suigestu gives him an unimpressed shake of his head and Naruto’s beginning to feel patronized.

“Can you two stop speaking in code?”

Karin spells it out for him as if he’s a kindergartner going through his first read of the alphabet, “Sasuke’s single. The man you’re in love with is single so shouldn’t this make you, I don’t know, happy?”

Naruto erupts into a guffaw that echoes in his own eardrums, but when he realizes it’s only a joke to him and the others have remained straight-faced, he calms down. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he tries, “You guys are serious.”

“Oh, c’mon, Naruto. Get your head out of your ass everyone knows this.”

“Sasuke’s my bro. Like that’s my best friend, what is wrong with all of you?”

“You nearly missed your first-year finals because you had to get tickets to that stupid Knicks Game Sasuke wanted to go to but didn’t have enough money to buy,” Karin tallies off.

Naruto protests crossly, “It was the Knicks!”

Thing 1 and Thing 2 say in sync, “It was Sasuke.”

Suigetsu adds, “Last thanksgiving, you drove him to New Jersey because Obito wanted to have dinner at his. You hate New jersey.”

“Yeah, it’s not even a state everyone hates New Jersey.”

Suigetsu nods, “And you still went down there, why?”

Naruto’s cheeks warm-up, “You would do the same for him!”

“Absolutely not. Fuck New Jersey.”

“Anyway!” Karin draws back their attention, “This summer when Sasuke and Sora went away for a trip you didn’t leave the stupid couch for three whole days. Naruto you basically had all phases of heartbreak in one weekend.”

Naruto spins excuses at the tip of his tongue but Karin holds up his hand, “For fuck’s sake, you call his mom more than he calls home.”

“She’s nice!” He counters, “And my mom’s friend too!”

“Whatever dude, you’re in love,” Suigetsu snorts.

Karin rolls her eyes, “You can honest to god tell me with a straight face you’ve never thought Sasuke’s hot?”

Naruto’s face burns, even more, he squawks indignantly, “Of course not! That’s weird.”

“Well, he is,” Suigetsu tilts his bottle up, licking around the lip before downing a gulp. “He’s sexy.”

Karin juts out her bottom lip, “He’s got a nice mouth. I bet he’s a good kisser.” Naruto’s brain unhelpfully provides the vivid image of the strawberry picking trip from spring and Sasuke’s red-stained lips. He short-circuits.

Suigetsu adds on, “He’s fit too. Like he’s got abs…. God imagine—“

“Okay, okay!” Naruto raises his hands in defeat, eliciting a nasally sound, “You made your point. He’s attractive. But that doesn’t make him my type.”

“Okay, buddy,” Karin taps his forearm skeptically. Naruto frowns, suppressing the urge to allow the ground to swallow him whole. This is humiliating and aggravating, he doesn’t even like Sasuke like that, but does he really act that pitiful in his absence?

Suigetsu and Karin are at each other’s throats 99% of the time and the 1% where they decide to be civil it’s to tag team at someone else’s expense. Unfortunately, that person is Naruto right now.

September in New York City is bipolar at best, temperamental at worst. Always confused in between deciding whether it should succumb to the imminent cold or linger in the heat left behind by July. Tonight, she’s chosen to envelop him in a brisk breeze, one that slaps at the nakedness of his neck and bareness of his hands and slips beneath the thin fabric of his flannel. Should’ve grabbed a jacket, he mindlessly regrets. Mentally he recounts all the assignments he still has to finish, counting on the blocks of his fingers, and realizes he needs to sit his ass down before midterms or he’ll start falling behind. And since starting Law School he’s been good at keeping himself in check.

Keying his apartment open, he yawns into his palm, expecting Sasuke long asleep except surprised to find his roommate sitting on the couch, an open cardboard box in front of him.

“Thought you’d be asleep by now?”

Sasuke blearily glances up, eyes tired and drawn droopily that they lack their usual sharpness, and it tugs at Naruto’s heartstrings. Slowly he approaches his friend, taking a seat next to the other man and peers inside the box. There is a ratty t-shirt and a couple of frames and books and a bracelet Naruto knows Sasuke hasn’t taken off in a year. Until now.

“His things?”

“Yep, I got into bed and realized the t-shirt I was wearing was his. It felt strange.”

Naruto picks up the frame that’s got a picture of Sasuke’s trip to Florida this summer. He’d gone to the Keyes and came back happy and excited and ready to begin the new semester. The leftover swell of feelings from that weekend come zooming back, and for the first time tonight, he understands the clarity behind Karin’s assumptions.

Slanting his eyes towards Sasuke he takes note of the Gamakichi Special Edition t-shirt his mom bought him two Christmases ago, and cracks a smile, “And now you’re wearing my shirt.”

Sasuke owlishly blinks and gazes down at the shirt he’s wearing, “Oh, I guess I am. Just grabbed whatever I could pick from the laundry pile we just did.”

Naruto nods placing the frame back into the box; on top of the threadbare shirt. Squeezing closer until his thigh is lightly touching Sasuke’s, he waves at the other lazily, “No worries. You won’t have to return this one anyway.”

That must be the right thing to say because Naruto’s welcomed to the sight of a smile that reaches the corners of Sasuke’s eyes, he responds, “Yeah.” The raven-haired boy directs the smile at Naruto now, “I won’t.”

His heart skips a beat.

~

Naruto is lying on the bed. Arms crossed over his stomach, the morning alarm should be going off in about twenty minutes, but he woke up right at 7:30 and hasn’t been able to sleep since. So, he is having a staring contest with the brittle ceiling paint that’s chipped in more places than one. There is also the decisive realization of what occurred last night. Now your heart choosing to take a moment of reprieve and forget it’s meant to beat isn’t all too unnatural. Plenty of things can prompt the phenomenon. Last weekend the tiny old lady that lives two doors down gave him a Tupperware of homemade kimchi and fresh-cut cantaloupe. And guess, what? His heart had skipped a beat. There was, also, the traffic police lady who shot him a smile when he crossed the street on Tuesday.

Besides your heart doing funny things doesn’t necessitate Karin’s theory. Sure enough, there is a perfectly scientific, reasonable explanation for this. Drumming his fingers on the planes of his stomach, he says out loud, “Yeah, yeah, it doesn’t mean anything.”

The standard alarm rings at his side. He turns it off and shoves the comforter aside, his hand on the knob of the door, he pauses. There is a buzz of nerves below the surface of his skin, but he shakes his head reminding himself that it was a fluke. Completely and absolutely meaningless.

Bravely he steps out of the room, the living room in front of him empty and Sasuke’s door still closed. Naruto strolls over to the kitchen, they’ve got a pass-through that opens to their living room, and the oven has been broken for the past two months and the landlord still hasn’t sent anyone to get it fixed. Yanking open the fridge door, Naruto surveys the contents only to find there are only two white eggs, one measly slice of bread, some leftover OJ in the carton and two browning bananas.

Sasuke’s the one who usually does the grocery. Neither of them has enough time to cook actual meals, but they usually have enough for a filling breakfast. Closing the door, he cranes his neck to check if there is any cereal and sure enough, they’ve got a box of Apple Jacks. Naruto even saw enough milk for two people. 

He’s grabbing two bowls when he hears a light thud of a door closing, glancing over his shoulder he finds Sasuke padding into the kitchen. Hair tossed up in a loose bun, glasses on the bridge of his nose, Naruto can see there is fatigue clinging to his shoulders, but the man shoots him a soft smile.

Skip.

Naruto’s cheeks warm-up, he jerks back to the task at hand and croaks out, voice still affected from sleep, “Morning.”

“Morning,” Sasuke yawns, loud. Clamping his mouth close, a sticky sound of it opening and closing, “We’re out of groceries?”

“Uh-huh,” Naruto drops a spoon into his own bowl, turning to bypass his roommate who reaches for his own bowl, “I’ll get some on the way home. You’ve got work today, right?”

Sasuke hums following after him, both men seating themselves on the couch, the TV turning on to HGTV and an old episode of Flip or Flop replaying. Around a mouthful of cereal, he says, “I might call out.”

Naruto stops chewing and finally looks at Sasuke, “We can skip class.”

“No, we can’t.” Sasuke puts the half-eaten bowl down, scowling a bit and Naruto comments, “You don’t ever like this shit, but you always end up eating it.”

Sasuke shrugs, “You like it.” Then leans a little into Naruto’s side, his temple resting on Naruto’s shoulder, “Class then I skip work.”

“Do you think Kakashi will get mad?”

“He owes me too much to be annoyed. Besides, I never call out.”

“True,” Naruto chews on the inside of his cheek and asks, “Sasuke.”

“Hrm?”

“You know, you can count on me, right?” Naruto sounds like a grade-schooler saying something like this. But sometimes he feels as if, regardless of being friends, they tend to jump over reassurances that are necessary to such situations. Still, his cheeks now warm up because he’s embarrassed, “Like, I’m here for you.”

Sasuke lowly laughs and Naruto shoves at him, the other flopping backward but also slapping the back of Naruto’s head. They tussle until Sasuke’s holding down Naruto’s hands in his lap, “Why are you being so sentimental all of a sudden?”

Naruto snarls, face contorting in annoyance, “You liked this guy more than the others.”

Dark eyes soften into understanding, the hold around his hands loosen and Naruto uses the opportunity to pinch Sasuke’s knees. The man rolls his eyes grabbing his half-eaten bowl and murmurs into the milk, “Thanks.”

Naruto grins, “Heh, any time.”

~

You’d think being law students they’d have pretty much the same schedule except the only person who shares the same classes as he is Public and Personal Enemy #1: Karin Uzumaki. She drops into the spinning chair next to him, MacBook in one hand and thermos in another, but Naruto pointedly keeps his face straight.

“Isn’t ignoring me a little childish?”

Naruto smiles at TenTen who’s seated in the first row, “Isn’t it a little childish meddling in other people’s relationships?”

“Oh, spare me,” she snorts, opening her notebook, “You’d have never realized it if I didn’t say anything. A hopeless cause on all accounts if you ask me.”

Naruto seethes, staring her down now, “You didn’t prove shit! All you did was make assumptions that aren’t even true.”

“You sleep in his bed, for christ's sake, Naruto,” she deadpans and Naruto counters, “The radiator works better there.”

Suigetsu’s droll interrupts their little tête-à-tête, “It’s 75 degrees outside. Lawyered!”

Naruto groans defeatedly, flopping onto the long-spanned desk that runs from one end of the lecture hall to the other, “You guys are awful.”

“Oh, here comes our heartthrob,” Karin snickers behind her thermos, inclining towards Naruto, “Don’t stare too hard, Nar- _uto_.”

He pinches her waist and glances back at the door of the lecture hall, Sasuke doesn’t have morning classes on Wednesday and the only one he does he shares with them, Law and Finance in Theory and Practice—or as Naruto’s coined it: Satan’s Practice and Theory. This is the hardest course of their semester because corporate legal jargon not only infuriates him, an environmental lawyer in the making, but also, the professor is an asshole who’s the toughest grader in the department.

Sasuke’s hair is still wet, it’s shoulder-length, his bangs framing his face and messily falling into his eyes, but he’s got a few strands curled behind his ears that rarely peek out. Naruto takes in the plain white-tee he’s wearing, bag hitched on his shoulder, and says, “You’ll catch a cold.”

Suigetsu clears his throat, “75 degrees outside.” Naruto kicks at his shin.

The raven raises a brow, takes a seat next to Karin and relays, “I kinda fell back asleep once you left. So, woke up late and then the 1 train had a delay and you guys know how that goes.”

“God, bless the MTA,” Karin cheers and Suigetsu snorts derisively. Would it be New York if the subway didn’t have delays during the rush hour?

The lecture starts in a timely manner, the monotone vibrato of the professor drones on, and it’s during one of his many—and he means many—attempts to stay awake, his eyes flit to his right. Sasuke’s chewing on the pen, brows knitted in concentration, glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose and Naruto absently thinks huh. Not sure what compels him, but his teeth bite into his bottom lip, eyes mapping Sasuke’s face at a distance. The other must’ve felt eyes on him because he turns to meet Naruto’s gaze. The blonde’s cheeks burn at being caught and he’s about to look away, but then Sasuke smiles, waving his pen in a _hi_ at Naruto.

_Oh, no_.

Naruto tilts down his own pencil in a _hello_.

A prickly voice disrupts the moment, “Careful now, Naruto.” He’s going to kill Suigetsu.

After class, they separate because Karin’s meeting up with the intern, she’s seeing at Presbyterian hospital, and Suigetsu is going to grab a bite with Jūgo before they all reconvene at the bar. Sasuke’s still got a clinic left so he salutes them goodbye before wandering down the pristine hallways towards the office where they usually meet up. Naruto searches the pockets of his jeans and draws out the crumpled list of groceries he’d noted down before leaving the apartment.

At the store he gets a box of jumbo white eggs because they’ve got a 99c deal he cannot pass, he grabs a bag of Tostitos chips and some ripe tomatoes and cilantro, a bag of lemon, two packets of shredded mozzarella, one packed of sliced mozzarella, a case of ramen cups, and a loaf of bread and oil.

At the register they have Twix bars lined against the counter, Naruto tosses one onto the pile and takes out his debit card. As usual Line 1 is packed around this time of the day, so Naruto’s stuffed between two middle-aged men that hold onto the poles of the subway to avoid getting jerked around. By the time he’s home, it’s already 5 o’clock. Naruto puts away the groceries, getting started on the paper he has to review for the next class-based discussion. He’s finishing up the last of the Constitutional Theory when the door to the apartment wedges open.

Sasuke’s waves a hi before slipping into the kitchen, backpack still on his shoulder, “Want a beer?”

“Sure.”

He falls onto the couch and declares, “Today was never ending.”

Naruto habitually inclines into the other man’s shoulder, “At least it’s over.”

The buzz under his skin isn’t though.

~

The end of October randomly gets a cold front. The city sleeps into a cocoon of white flurry while classes get canceled simply due to the unexpected arrival of winter. Naruto shuts the window that gives them a hard time by putting his weight on the ledge and hollers at Sasuke, “Can you get the bathroom? I’m getting the fire escape.”

“Got it!” Sasuke shouts back before padding into the living room wearing a maroon-colored sweater that he’s either definitely outgrown or was too lazy to return to get the right size; judging by the freshness of the material he’s inclined to think the latter.

Naruto ducks into the kitchen to pluck two mugs from the cabinet to make some coffee for his friend and hot chocolate for himself, he’s fixing the marshmallows on top of the drink when a series of incessant knocks come from the front door. Discarding his task at hand, he figures it’s their neighbors, but opens the door to a very, very angry looking Karin and suspiciously happy Suigetsu.

“We got snowed out of our building—the landlord doesn’t even have the heating figured out yet.”

“We could’ve stayed inside our apartment if someone didn’t think it was of utmost importance to get snacks from the Asian store in the fucking city.”

“Hey! They’re the only ones that have the kind of Ramen I like.” Suigetsu explains taking off his shoes at the entrance and following the drenched redhead into the bathroom.

“Naruto, can I borrow a sweatshirt?” Karin yells and Suigetsu adds, “Me too!”

Naruto grabs two hoodies from his closet and tosses them at the two right as Sasuke exits his room, taking the coffee out of the blonde’s grip he squints, “Didn’t realize you two were joining us.”

“That wasn’t the plan, but your place was closer to the station than ours,” Karin fusses before cuddling into Naruto’s side on the sofa.

Suigetsu stands the foot of the table and asks, “Ok, call me crazy.”

All three friends repeat in unison, “Crazy.”

“Isn’t that _the_ sweater, Sasuke?”

“Today is laundry day but the laundromat is closed.”

Naruto completely out of the loop from the conversation, Karin pitches in, “You sure you and Naruto weren’t up to something _other_ than movies?” She wiggles her brows salaciously and Naruto frowns elbowing her side. “What’s even special about the sweater?”

Sasuke sinks into the couch, mug near his mouth, clearly avoiding answering, as Suigetsu explains—all the while turning on the TV to Netflix and taking a seat on the recliner—, “It’s the lucky sweater. Sasuke always gets laid when he wears it.”

Covertly glancing at the man next to him he takes in the attire and wonders what the other two mean, finally Sasuke supplies, “My ex thought I looked hot in it. Since then Suigetsu has taken the courtesy to dub it the—”

“Sex sweater!” The white-haired man cheers as if it’s a monumentally impressive idea.

Naruto pauses to deliberate, then decides, “Huh, it’s just a sweater.”

Karin snickers lowly next to him, “For _now_.” He ignores her to pay attention to their fifth re-watch of Sharknado on Suigetsu’s insistence. Somewhere around the second half of the movie, Sasuke leans away from him to balance his weight on the arm of the sofa and Naruto’s eyes draw to the skin exposed around his middle.

His throat remains dry for the rest of the movie. Not even his hot chocolate curbs the parched feeling.

~

Naruto and Sasuke have known each other for a little over five years. They’ve been friends for 4 and a 1/2 of those. And best friends for a solid three. When you’ve known a person for that long you develop an affinity to their habits. Certain things they do only when they’re feeling a certain way or are thinking of something in particular. Karin chews on her nails when she’s nervous about deadlines and cramming for exams. Suigetsu gets the hiccups. Terrible, absolutely inopportune in their timing, and 100% inconvenient.

Sasuke, when he’s bored, does this eye thing. Naruto’s never met someone who’s so shamelessly expressive through their eyes, but Sasuke’s speak of his entire mood. Like right now, he’s got the corners of his sharp eyes pointing towards, dark eyes that usually glow effervescently lack their characteristic shine, and Naruto knows 110% he’s bored out of his mind. Unfortunately for the raven, the jovial brunette at his arm who’s teetering between keeping eye contact and ogling at Sasuke’s mouth is talking non-stop. You can tell, he’s putting all his eggs in one basket. Props to him, Naruto commends.

Taking pity on his best friend, after another fifteen minutes, right as the brunette steps back to order himself a drink at the bar, Naruto steps between the meager space he leaves unoccupied. Sasuke raises a brow at him and Naruto grins.

Thrusting a hand forward, he introduces, “Naruto Uzumaki.”

Sasuke stares at the appendage momentarily, a reflection of confusion, before deciding to go along to Naruto’s whims. His handshake is firm, “Sasuke Uchiha.”

Naruto surveys the room, bottle of beer still dangling from his left hand, one that’s close to Sasuke’s forearm, then directs his gaze back at his friend, “Cute.”

“Thanks?” Sasuke chuckles.

“I mean your name,” Naruto watches the grey weave through the inky black of Sasuke’s eyes, a stuttering revelation under the shitty strobe lights of the all too packed club.

Sasuke licks his lips out of habit, the bottom one glistening now, “Thanks, again.”

“Single?”

“Currently,” Sasuke takes a swig, Naruto’s acutely aware of his Adam’s apple bobbing to the drink he’s gulping down.

“Likewise,” Naruto offers. This is a routine escape act for them. Any time the other is engaged in a less than promising admirer the other comes to their rescue.

“Surprising,” Sasuke pronounces and Naruto raises a brow at that. Sasuke asks, “Crazy?”

“Rarely,” Naruto details leaning back on the countertop, from the corner of his eyes he can see the guy from earlier retreating defeatedly, “You?” Naruto has the decency to feel bad for him.

“Only all the time,” Sasuke bounces back and Naruto sputters into a robust laugh.

“Well,” Naruto leans into Sasuke who further diminishes their distance by offering an ear to Naruto. “I have a proposition, that is, if you’re interested.”

“You have my attention.”

“Food?”

Sasuke takes a long drag of the last of his drink, placing the bottle on the counter and putting his fingers on Naruto’s forearm, “Oh you know the way to a man’s heart.”

Naruto beams, big and no longer in character, he hollers the bartender to put their drinks on Suigetsu’s tab, and drags Sasuke by the sleeve of his Henley, “I know just the place.”

November’s start peeks right above the horizon, the sun has set, but New York doesn’t know the difference of morning from night because she pulses in the streetlights, the rush of its inhabitants and the ever-reliable pizzerias that stay open twenty-four hours. And if you live in this mammoth of a city, that nearly houses a couple of million people, you have a favorite pizza place. Not those high-end, Zagat rated one’s you can find through a quick google search of _top ten best pizza places in New York City_ , no, this one is special—because it holds memories and a story—and Naruto’s story walks back to the very, very, first night at his two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with a roommate he was learning to call a best friend.

This is a filthy mecca of spectacular, yet undercooked pizza place located in Williamsburg, no door at the entrance, a kind of indoor/outdoorsy look where you can barely see the walls because they’re covered in pictures of patrons and celebrities who’ve visited. The establishment is pretty small, comfortable and the furniture is made out of wood, and the pizza is a whopping two bucks. It’s the perfect picture of New York where you’re tucked away with your greasy, dripping, cheese slice and still open to the sounds of the city in its life. Sasuke gets their usual order and Naruto saves them a seat and they share three slices between the two of them and Naruto drops the canister of red pepper flakes on his and Sasuke switches his own slice with him—Naruto’s not too good with spices. Thank god, Sasuke’s always around.

Swiping his greasy stained fingers on Sasuke’s leftover crust, Naruto asks, “So, admit it. I gave you a better time than that guy at the bar.”

Sasuke contemplates, mouth twisting in the way Naruto knows he’s picking out a pepper flake from in-between in his teeth, “Sex vs shitty pizza at 1 in the morning.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Naruto pushes at his shoulders, “Asshole. I’m better than sex.”

“Bold,” Sasuke licks his teeth and smirks, “shoot lower and we’ll talk.”

“Better than sex with a stranger who might turn out to be a creep with whacky kinks,” Naruto wiggles his brows and sips on his coke. The carbonated drink is chilly and it’s nice against the warmth of the restaurant.

Sasuke wipes his fingers on the napkin, and counters, “What if I’m into whacky kinks?”

“Oh, please,” Naruto snorts knowingly, “You and Sora were having missionary day in and out like even Suigetsu can vouch for that one.”

Sasuke raises a brow in inquisition, “You dumbasses were listening?”

“Oh we all know who was putting the work in that relationship,” Naruto dodges Sasuke’s hand that goes to twist his ear. “Admit it!”

“He has a bad back,” Sasuke tries to explain, but mostly holding back a laugh, while Naruto retaliates, “He was twenty-five!”

Sasuke does end up snorting into a full-laugh, and Naruto’s grinning ear to ear, “Couldn’t be me.”

“Ah, yes, we’re all well-acquainted with your screams, Naruto.” Naruto flushes at the imposition and sputters, “Just means I’m giving it good.”

Sasuke leans forward, propping his chin on the palm of his head, elbow on the table, “or the other way round.”

Naruto’s ears are burning by this point, he still manages a quick, “You’re a bastard, you know that?”

Sasuke smiles, “Don’t see you disagreeing.”

Nothing the other man does borders uncomfortable. Naruto reckons it has to do with the self-assured aura Sasuke carries, it allows him the freedom to not toe the line of cringe that most men end up crossing, because when Sasuke flirts—and although Naruto hasn’t been on the receiving end of it—it’s never too much. Yet, right now, he feels like he is being sought. Something about Sasuke’s jokes touches a territory they have never really wandered in.

After chucking their paper plates, they decide to walk home. It’s still not too cold out and now that November is around the corner they might as well enjoy the weather as long as it’s merciful.

“Were you in love with him?”

Sasuke’s got hands buried in his Columbia rain-jacket, bangs clipped back, and Naruto can see the perfect shape of his jawline from the corner of his eyes, but he pushes to stare forward. The man speaks, “No, I wasn’t.”

“Hrm,” Naruto hums, and then voices to the open streets of New York, “How do you even know if you’re in love? Feel like it’s a big ploy by corporate America.”

“Little cynical, don’t you think?” Sasuke chuckles, “Thought that was my designated position in the group.”

“You’re practical, not cynical,” Naruto corrects, Karin’s familiar voice tickles his thoughts, she said he was in love. How does she even know if he doesn’t? “How do you even know?”

“You know,” Sasuke replies just as vaguely, shrugging a lofty shoulder, “it’s love, you have to know.”

Naruto blinks at him, “Then why not Sora?”

Sasuke shrugs again, “Who knows? Wasn’t the one, I guess.”

“Does this mean you’re going to be looking for said one, this mysterious stranger, the love of your life—“

Sasuke cracks into a tired smile, thinks for a moment, “I don’t know. Dating is exhausting. Getting to know someone, learning them inside out and repeating it all over if it doesn’t work out or something doesn’t click—like, we’re starting our third year at law school soon. I can’t start this again.”

“True,” they turn down a street that leads to their apartment building. “Wouldn’t have to do all that if you just dated a friend.”

“My very selective pool of a lesbian, Law School’s #1 playboy, and y—“

Naruto blinks, a lightbulb turning on in the empty house of his brain, “Me.”

Sasuke’s brows rise saying _exactly_ , but Naruto ignores the skepticism, and charges on, stopping the man by his shoulders. Sasuke faces him in bewilderment and Naruto leaves a hand to fix Sasuke in one place and uses the other to point at himself, “Me. Date _me!_ ”

“What?” Incredulity seeps into Sasuke’s vowels, “Are you drunk? We barely had any—“

“I’m dead serious,” Naruto nods sagely, thoughtful and convincing in how he carries on, “You already know everything about me, you like all things about me—“

“—well that’s debatable you still don't clean—“

“—Shut up, Sasuke, listen—“

“Okay?”

Naruto smiles furtively into the chilly air, allowing the draft to listen in on their secrets, “Date me. It’s a win-win situation.”

“You’ve gone nuts,” Sasuke laughs in disbelief.

Accusing the raven with a pointed finger, he exclaims, “You’re just afraid you’ll fall in love with me!”

“As if.”

“Then what’s stopping you, Sasuke?”

Sasuke’s eyes soften at the call of his name, and he brushes Naruto’s hand aside, “You’re my best friend. Relationships can be—“

Naruto vouches wholeheartedly, putting all cards on the table, shattering every semblance of shame, self-control, he previously had, “I’ll never hurt you.”

“Fickle...” Sasuke finishes. Then sighs, deep and long, “What if we break up? Will we stay best friends?”

Naruto deadpans, face pinched, “Get your head out of your ass, Sasuke, I have your mom on speed dial.”

“Who the fuck uses speed dial, it’s 2019?” Sasuke says and Naruto rolls his eyes.

“So?”

“So, this is a stupid idea.”

Naruto’s hands tremble exactly once, he cups Sasuke’s face in the palm of his hands and it’s a miracle he’s never done this before because up close—well, up close Sasuke looks like everything out of his dreams, the whole damn dream, if you ask him. He then says, “Fall in love with me.”

Sasuke’s eyes, oh they speak in oceans that have sunken the night’s darkness only to reflect back brighter, brighter than the starlit sky. New York looks down on them, the streets are still budding with life, Sasuke touches the back of his hand and quietly answers, “Alright, but you better make it worthwhile, Uzumaki.”

Naruto bites the inside of his cheek, runs on the adrenaline that had allowed him to expose this proposition and kisses Sasuke’s cheeks. His lips tingle at the first contact, “I promise I will.”

~

Naruto is lying on the bed. Arms crossed over his stomach, again. Yes, he’s becoming too used to this position. But this time instead of contemplating the wild assumptions of his friends—that never learned the meaning of privacy—he’s wondering if last night’s event were true, to begin with. Unfortunately for him, a hazy memory sits right above the line of disillusion; a bar, some pizza, New York and Sasuke. Still, it could all have been a dream concocted by his rather imaginative mind—he didn’t win most creative in 2nd-grade art competition for nothing. Despite his own reservations, his doubts slowly peel away into unbridled hopefulness.

“C’mon, it totally happened, you definitely asked him,” Naruto gives himself an inspiriting pep talk. Fear of committing an irreparable mistake looms over dauntingly, raising the beat in his chest to touch the skin of his chest in quickening thuds, “Oh god, what have I done?”

Throwing an arm over his eyes he decides two very terrible outcomes: Sasuke moves out, ends their friendship and never wants to see him again or Sasuke was so drunk he doesn’t remember what happened last night at all. The latter is the more appealing outcome. But.

Time to face the music, he encourages himself. Pushing aside the comforter he goes to the door and cups both of his cheeks, and whispers to the morning light, “It’ll be fine. Everything will be just fine.”

Naruto opens the door, slower than he usually would, careful in making no noises, but fate has a funny way of dropping an ax on Naruto’s metaphorical toes—feelings, his feelings. Sasuke opens the door right as Naruto does, the creaking sound of both of their uncoiled hinges disrupts the otherwise quiet apartment. Like clockwork, Naruto’s skin starts to warm up. He’s getting really fucking tired of his body acting out against him this way; personal sabotage to be very honest.

Awkwardly he smiles, it’s not even a real smile cause one corner of his mouth sticks up while the other is pointed down. His right eye does that twitch that it does when he’s nervous, and let’s not mention how he’s waving two fingers at the other man right now—god, what the fuck is wrong with him? Act normal!

Sasuke offers his own two-stilted-fingers wave. Eyebrows drawn to the center, not in the constipated way Naruto’s expressing himself, but more so a confused expression.

Now or never. Naruto strolls towards the middle to step down into their open living room, and Sasuke follows, and that too burgeons a new wave of goosebumps along the expanse of his skin. Hurriedly he shuffles into the kitchen, grabs a bowl from the cabinet, the box of Apple Jacks and dumps the contents into the ceramic cutlery. Once he turns, he hits Sasuke’s hand, who pulls back a lightly, the 1/2-gallon milk in one hand and the other extended.

“What?” Naruto squawks rudely.

Sasuke pointedly stares at the box in his hand, “Where are you taking that? I want it too.”

“I’m eating it.”

“Without milk?”

“What’s it to you?”

Sasuke’s nose crinkles, “Just take the fucking milk.”

“Well,” Naruto pushes the bowl under his armpit, and snatches the bottle, “If you’re offering—”

“What is going on with you?”

“I just want my cereal!” Naruto pushes past him to the living room, planting his ass on the couch, and Sasuke comes out now with a bowl and spoon of his own. He sets the bowl on the table and Naruto narrows his eyes at him. Ignoring the raven and the prominent rosiness of his own cheeks, he goes to make his breakfast.

Sasuke’s the biggest piece of shit in the world because right as Naruto takes a mouthful of the sinful sweetness that’s commonly known as Apple Jacks, his dickhead of a friend mimics in a familiar raspy lilt, “Fall in love with _me_. Date _me_.”

Naruto chokes on the cereal, coughing up a lung, and Sasuke laughs at his side. The blonde punches his friend in the shoulder who takes it bravely, and sputters, “You’re an ass!”

“Stop avoiding me then.”

Naruto flounders a little, hands not knowing what to do, “That’s not funny.”

“It’s a little funny,” Sasuke loftily raises a shoulder.

Naruto huffs, bringing up a knee to his chest, and smashing his cheek on it, face away from Sasuke. “You remember then.”

“I had half a beer and a can of coke, Naruto. Of course, I remember.”

So warm. He feels so, so warm. Sasuke’s closer now, his thigh touches Naruto’s and Naruto forgets how to breathe. There has never been a time when Sasuke’s made him nervous, but needless to say, this is huge. The monumental implications of what he’d proffered to the man last night, so readily too, holds great weight.

“Were you serious?” Sasuke’s softer now as he speaks, there is an astounding sobriety in his words. Naruto finally meets eyes he’s often found himself anchored to, “Yeah.”

“You do understand what you were offering, right? Like, this could be detrimental to our friendship—“

“Why are you so bent on looking at the negative?”

“I don’t know, Naruto, all of this is strange to me.”

“Then say no, you’re not hurting my feelings for telling the truth—” Naruto catches himself being snippy, reels back in his budding disappointment. The two outcomes, the one where Sasuke doesn’t want any of this, well, apparently it leaves him emptier than he’d anticipated.

Except, Sasuke’s visage flickers regret. Heaving in a sigh, he admits, “That’s not what I said.”

Naruto opens his mouth but Sasuke beat him to it, “It’s not that I haven’t thought about this. About us.”

There is a pleasant curl in Naruto’s stomach, his lips twitch to pull into a full smile, but he lets Sasuke finish, “Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“Let’s date.”

Naruto practically crashes into Sasuke who steadies him with a solid palm to his chest, Naruto’s arms loosely wrung around his neck, he proposes, “Lets, maybe, set a timer on this?”

“What do you mean?” Naruto’s brows furrow.

“If in six months’ time we’re not in love with each other…” Sasuke explains, “We break up. It’s only fair we do everything to salvage our friendship. How about that? Can you do that?”

Naruto tosses the idea around, “So, you’re basically saying I get six months to make you fall in with me—“

Sasuke wheezes out an incredulous laugh, “Not everything is a challenge—"

“Okay—” Naruto’s eyes glitter. “Six months and I’m the only person you’ll be thinking about. I’ll make you fall so hard, Sasuke.”

Sasuke arches a brow in amusement, lips rounding out, “Someone’s confident.”

“Yeah,” Naruto extends his hand, “Spit on it?”

Sasuke stares at the hand in disgust and then shrugs, “Yeah, whatever, a gentlemen’s agreement.”

Six months. That’s plenty of time. That’s two whole seasons. That’s two semesters. That’s half a year.

Easy.

~

Karin’s boring holes, no—scratch that—craters into the side of his skull for the better part of the past hour, but Naruto purposely ignores her. They’re in their regular booth, nursing their regular tepid beer, Suigetsu’s prattling about some new guy he’s seeing and Sasuke’s intently listening, reacting when necessary. Naruto is preoccupied in his own thoughts. Like first date ideas. Sasuke and him have been officially together for a week now. But in that week, all they’ve done is went through a whole jar of Nescafe, their month’s stock of prepackaged ramen they get from flushing—the Brooklyn bodega’s always overcharge—and of course, every graduate student’s bread and butter: beer.

Naruto’s got those Pinterest pages pulled up, scrolling through date ideas, totally checked out of the conversation. In his own world, he doesn’t notice Sasuke stepping out to take a call. The redhead reaches over and slaps at his knuckles. Naruto yelps, rubbing at them, “What was that for?”

“What are you hiding, Uzumaki?”

Naruto pouts insulted, holding his fists to his chest, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, get your head out of your ass, you don’t think I have noticed you making googly eyes at Sasuke all night?”

Naruto quacks in offense, mouth dropping open, “I have not!”

“Tell me before I tell everyone about the time we went down to Jones Beach—“

“Jesus,” Naruto raises his palms in defeat. “Fine.” He rubs the nape of his neck, “For the record, I wasn’t making eyes.” She glares a threat, but he confesses. “We’re kind of, sorta, dating.”

“How do you kinda, sorta, date?”

Naruto waves his hand around flippantly, the picture of calm and collected—aside from the terrible habit of his of peeling bottle labels—and says, “You know, we’re trial dating. Like we’re going to date for six months and if we don’t fall in love then we break—“

Karin thwacks the side of his head, her ring catching his ear that stings at the contact, “Ow! What the fuck, Karin? That really hurt!”

“Were you dropped on your head as an infant? Is that why you act this way?”

“Hey!” Naruto points at her accusingly, “We promised we won’t mention ma’s butterfingers’ again!”

Her nostrils flare up, eyes unblinking, as they get when she’s proper mad at something, “Trial dating? TRIAL? Do you want to hate each other in six months?”

“That won’t happen cause I’ll make him fall in love!”

“Oh yeah?” She snorts, “What about you? Will you fall for him?”

Naruto narrows his eyes in suspicion, “I thought I already was in love. Admitting you’re wrong, heh?”

“No, I’m right, but clearly you’re stupider than I had thought.” Squeezing a thin sound from her nose, “Naruto, you do realize how stupid this is, right? Someone can get seriously hurt.”

Naruto flicks his wrist errantly, “Relax. Nothing will happen.”

“What won’t happen?” Suigetsu joins them, carrying a tray of honey-barbecue wings. Karin raises a brow at him, “Dumbass here has decided to date Sasuke.”

“Dude,” Suigetsu high fives him. Finally, some support in this house. “Get in.”

Naruto warms under the neckline of his t-shirt, grinning but Karin stomps on his short-lived happiness, “For six months and if neither of them falls in love they break up.”

Suigetsu squints in confusion, then realizes, “Well.” He chews on a chicken wing, “That’s no problem they’re already in love.”

Naruto whoops in victory and Karin heeds a warning, “Whatever! Y’all are going to regret this. Mark my words.”

“Regret what?” Sasuke slides back in, this time on Naruto’s side, and he’s closer than he’d normally sit. Naruto is acutely aware of their thighs touching through the material of his joggers. Sasuke’s got one hand on the table the other in his lap.

He clears his throat, tipping the mouth of his bottle to himself, “They know about. Uh, us.”

Sasuke’s eyes widen a fraction, barely a response unless you’re really watching his facial expressions, and nods. “Right, Naruto and I are seeing each other.”

Karin holds back her tongue and Suigetsu’s the one that squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder, “This is so cool. My best friends dating. I’m so proud.”

Then he stares at Naruto, “Don’t fuck it up, Uzumaki.”

Naruto’s jaw drops in betrayal, “What the hell, why me, why not Sasuke too?”

“Sasuke’s less likely to fuck up,” the other two say in unison. Naruto’s beginning to feel othered in his own friend group.

~

It’s only Monday and Naruto’s already done with the week. He’s got a four-hour-long shift at Whole Foods starting at six but every part of his body aches. Last night he didn’t finish his readings of the assigned casebooks until one in the morning. Sunday mornings he usually works an 8-hour shift and somehow, he’d completely forgotten about the last-minute assignment the professor had assigned them due to class being canceled the week prior. Regardless, right now he feels exhausted to the bone. You know how when you’re too tired and your body starts fevering up, on top of being cold, that’s pretty much what he’s experiencing.

Dropping his bag on the couch he drags his feet to his door at first, but then realizes the radiator barely works in his room so turns around and toddles over to Sasuke’s. The man should still be at his clinic, so Naruto easily slips in, chucking off his shoes and slithering under the comforters. The thick blanket comes up to his chin, he snuggles in and passes out.

Sweat perspires at his hairline as Naruto comes to, blinking out the fogginess clinging to his sight, “What time is it?”

Sasuke’s next to him, slackened against the bed frame, reading through a case from one of their shared classes and murmurs, “About 4:50.”

Naruto groans burying his nose into Sasuke’s side, his face squishing against the side of his waistline, and throws an arm over his lap, “I don’t want to go to work.”

“You’re taking off for finals so I wouldn’t skip right now,” Sasuke underlines one of the facts from the packet with a blue ballpoint pen. Naruto mouths at his skin, where the shirt rides a little because of how Sasuke’s sitting, blankets pooled around his waist, “I hate when you’re right.”

Sasuke hums lightly scratching Naruto’s scalp, fingers untangling the fluff of his hair. Naruto pauses.

Peeling himself from Sasuke’s side he sits up, the other man pays him no mind, his hand dropping between them close to Naruto’s. There is unexplored heat radiating between them that touches Naruto furtively, not deeply but teasing as if it’s tempting him to reach over and take action—hold Sasuke’s hand, or entwine his fingers with the other, maybe even, memorize the planes of his digits. Catching his escaping wayward thoughts, he brings himself back down, nipping at the issue at hand. Old habits certainly die hard which is why he ended up in the other man’s bed. But they’re dating now. Being here, sharing this space, serves a different type of connotation.

The lull of quiet pinches discomfort causing Sasuke to glance up, mouth slightly parted in wonder, “What’s wrong? You work at six, right? I was going to wake you up by five, so you had enough time to take a quick shower and get to work.”

Naruto ducks scratching his cheek, “Not that, but. Urm, sorry.”

“For what?”

“I kinda slept here without your permission….”

Sasuke chuckles incredulously, “A little late for that, no? You’ve been doing this for years.”

The blonde’s skin warms up at that. He never realized he had never asked Sasuke’s permission to do it in the first place—long, long ago when they were becoming best friends. Sasuke never saying anything brews a pleasant buzz in his stomach.

Staring at their hands so close, yet so far, Naruto relays, “Isn’t it a little different now, I mean, since we’re…”

Naruto blushes.

Sasuke catches on, “Oh.” Closing his notebook and case packet he deliberates, “I wouldn’t want things we already do to change?”

“So, this much is okay?”

“Don’t see why not,” Sasuke shifts a little, his pinky finger now resting on top of Naruto’s, “Is it okay with you?”

Naruto glances down at their hands again and this time Sasuke follows his line of sight. Bringing his fingers closer, he slides the digits in the gaps left between Sasuke’s, and people are so funny with their clichés about being made for each other. About having one true soulmate who’s meant to fit you perfectly. Like a puzzle piece. Eight some million people in this enormous city, this forever bustling city, and he’s meant to find his one. Seems improbable.

Then why do the wells in between Sasuke’s fingers fit his own fingers so perfectly, the right size, the perfect space. As if, they were made for Naruto.

Sasuke takes it a step further, he pushes further until their hands are propped on the joint of their wrists, and their palms meet in a feather-like kiss. Properly folding his fingers down, he holds Naruto’s hand.

“Huh,” Naruto’s chest tightens, it’s not uncomfortable, it stirs that pleasant buzz in his belly again, “We’ve never done that before.”

Sasuke squeezes their palms securely, “We have about the same hand size.”

“We can share gloves,” Naruto chuckles, low and quiet. It gets buried under the warmth of the room, of Sasuke’s presence. Flitting his eyes to the clock on Sasuke’s bedside table, he decides, shifting himself closer until he’s buried into Sasuke’s side, hands still conjoined, “Let’s stay like this for a few more minutes.”

Sasuke gives another squeeze, “Okay.”

It’s nice. Naruto’s always liked hand-holding, but this feels nicer than just that. A swelling burgeons between their clasped palms and Naruto closes his eyes briefly hoping it grows ceaselessly.

~

Naruto brandishes two tickets victoriously, lifting them up in the air and tearing up a little, “Guess what I got?”

Suigetsu and Sasuke stare up at him, the edge of their seats, the white-haired man asks, “Are those….bro…are those courtside seats for the Knicks game?”

“Yeah, baby,” Naruto waves them excitedly. “For the raptors game on Wednesday.”

Suigetsu takes the precious tickets from his hand and gawks at them, purple eyes twinkling in excitement. Sasuke’s the one who asks, “How’d you get them? Those are insanely expensive.”

Naruto tilts up his chin smugly, “They had a raffle at work for these and I put my name in and actually won.”

“Dude, this is like, at the garden. Celebs are usually around this area.”

“Who cares we get to see the players in the flesh,” Naruto sighs dreamily, “Maybe they’ll sweat on me.”

Sasuke’s eyebrows draw in concern and Suigetsu’s eyes narrow, looking between the tickets and Naruto, “Wait. There’s only two here.”

Clearing his throat, Naruto plucks back the tickets from his friend, avoiding to glance at Sasuke he keeps his face siding Suigetsu, “Well, I was going to take Sasuke.”

Suigetsu’s jaw drops. Sasuke offers, “You don’t have to. We already went for my birthday last year. Take Suigetsu, he’s never been this close.”

Naruto finally directs himself to the other man, he knows his skin is flushing a deep red under the crappy bar lighting, the overhead bulb suspended over their booth doing nothing at cooling him down. Rubbing the nape of his neck, he quietly admits, “I was kinda hoping this would be a date.”

Sasuke blinks, understanding colors his features as he nods, “Oh.” After a thoughtful pause, “You want to take me out on a date?”

They’re staring at each other, unaware of their surroundings, and Sasuke’s got a small smile on his lips. One that’s got the muscles in his face loosened, and Naruto’s the reason behind it. It’s Suigetsu that interrupts the moment, a strident crow coming from Naruto’s left, “Oh fuck y’all.”

Naruto claps his hands together pathetically like you do to pray, and bows a little, squeezing his eyes shut, the heat below his skin still simmers due to Sasuke’s attention on him. “I’m sorry!” He apologizes, “I’ll make it up to you promise!”

“You’re tearing this group apart,” Suigetsu huffs.

“I really really will make it up to you. I’ll get you the _bestest_ Christmas present out of everyone—“

“You better!”

There is no need to add the rest, but he ends up confessing, mouth curling up into a pout, “I just wanna spend some time with Sasuke.”

“You guys are roommates for christ’s sake!” Suigetsu grumbles on, “How much more time do you need to spend together?”

“Yeah, but,” there is a steady thrum in his chest that guides him to choose his words, “Like it’s always school, or work, or friends. I want to be his boyfriend for a few hours.”

Sasuke bites a smile into his drink, and Suigetsu rolls his eyes, albeit affectionately, “Whatever.” Looking between the two men, Naruto misses the way Sasuke kicks at Suigetsu’s shin, “I mean, I suppose it’s cute you’re trying to charm Sasuke.”

Naruto blushes hotly to the tip of his ears, completely flustered—“That’s not what—“

“Who broke you?” Karin interrupts his rambles, taking a seat beside Sasuke. She’d been at Sakura’s so was running late. “Oh, shit, are those Knicks tickets?”

“Forget it he’s taking Sasuke,” Suigetsu grouses.

Karin raises a perfectly shaped brow, “Date?”

Naruto nods enthusiastically, a grin in place, “Our first proper one.”

“That’d be hard to follow up,” she looks between them, stopping at Sasuke, “How are you going to beat that?”

“Courtside too,” Suigetsu adds unhelpfully.

Sasuke shrugs unbothered, “That’s for me to worry about.” Naruto’s nerves dissipate entirely, he gets in beside Suigetsu and watches Sasuke answer, “But this is a pretty sweet first date.” He waves his ticket in Suigetsu’s face who wails.

Naruto knocks on Sasuke’s door who opens and stares at him.

“You look like a clown.”

Naruto peers down at his Knicks jersey, his Knick snapback secure on his head, his Jordan’s on that he’d saved for three whole summers before purchasing them last year—those shoes are ridiculously expensive, mind you!—and scowls, “These cost a lot of money you know!” Then adds fruitlessly, “It’s the Knicks, Sasuke! We love the Knicks!”

“Yes, we do love Knicks…..And you look like an expensive clown,” Sasuke corrects stepping out of his room and Naruto takes in his outfit.

The man is wearing black joggers, a body-hugging avocado green long-sleeved shirt, and a Sherpa jean-jacket. Sasuke’s even taken the time to style his messy hair, his center bangs pushed back to show his forehead but a few stray strands still delicately framing his face near his temples. Naruto even notices a sheen of Chapstick coating his lips.

Sasuke’s slips into his shoes, lifting his head to ask Naruto’s still form, “What?”

“You look really good,” Naruto blurts out. “You dressed up.” No remorse. It’s out there. Naruto basically just called his best friend sexy and is now going to wait until the ground cracks open and swallows him whole. Perfect plan. Any minute now.

The other man glances down at his outfit then up, shrugging nonchalantly, “Well, this is a date isn’t it?”

Naruto is afraid he’ll say something stupid so instead, he nods.

Sasuke explains then, running a hand through his hair, the silver Uchiha charm bracelet on his hand glinting, “I didn’t want you to think I’m not serious.” He straightens up holding out his hand, “I wanted to look nice for my boyfriend.” Naruto furiously blushes at that, wrapping his fingers around Sasuke’s offered hand, “Even if he looks like an idiot.”

Naruto bumps his shoulder into the other, “Shut up!” Then adds, “You’re dating this idiot, so what does that make you?”

Sasuke chuckles as they exit the apartment, locking behind them and walking towards the Q train that goes straight to 34th-Herald Sq, but they’ve still got plenty of time, so they hope off at Atlantic Avenue and get on the 4. Naruto’s fingers are still held in Sasuke’s hand, he’s never held hands with someone for this long, but again all the things he can do around Sasuke aren’t things he’ll do with anyone else. And the things he now gets to do with Sasuke somehow makes them even better.

“I was going to just get hotdogs at the game, but you don’t like them so I thought we could get Gyros beforehand,” Naruto stares at the little blinking screen that reads the next stop. Some lines don’t even have them and if you’re not well-acquainted with the subway system, or have google maps open, you’re kind of screwed.

Sasuke is leaning on the pole, shooting a text to his mom. Naruto doesn’t expect him to glance up and give him a smile. “Sounds good.”

There is a tremor murmuring in the depths of his chest, the blonde’s cheeks warm-up at the affection Sasuke is so openly directing towards him. Sasuke’s never been reserved about how he feels. No, he’s not showy or gaudy or dramatic. But he’s always responsive to people he adores, goes the extra mile for them if needed, and never afraid of voicing how he feels. Naruto finds that admirable because oftentimes the scale of his own emotions scares him.

“The 56th and Lex one, none of those other fake carts,” Naruto complains about the 100th time. He once had it from the cart a street down and got food poisoning. Like it’s either the OG guys or nothing.

They sit around the fountain outside of Starbucks, the line from earlier showing no signs of slowing down—that’s how this corner always is—and scarfs down the rice, lamb and pita. Sasuke gets his with extra white sauce and more red sauce than Naruto would ever be able to digest.

Naruto personally prefers the chicken gyro, he thinks the rice tastes better with it, “God, I could eat this every day. I wonder what’s their secret ingredient.”

Sasuke licks the white sauce from his bottom lip, and says, “Grease and heart disease.”

Naruto snorts into his next bite, hacking up a cough when the pita goes down the wrong pipe. Sasuke pats his back mockingly and Naruto shoves at him. They finish up and scurry over to the F train that takes them to Herald. The square is brimming with people, there is always a lot of foot traffic due to Koreatown being right there, but Naruto squeezes past the people anyway. It’s when he’s knocked sideways by the crowd—who seem to be going to the game as well—he finds familiar warmth envelop his hand. Sasuke pulls him closer to his side and mutters over the noise, “Don’t stray too far.”

Naruto nods, not wanting to think about how his hands probably smell of the food and feel clammy and there is sweat under his arms from all the walking and the crowd—and Sasuke’s so close. The man doesn’t seem to find anything amiss. In fact, he presses closer than he has all night, and Naruto’s keenly aware of the diminishing distance between them.

Swallowing past the swab of saliva on his tongue, he chuckles self-deprecatingly, “Sorry my hands are sweaty.”

They climb the stairs towards the entry checkpoint, “They’re fine.” Then reassuringly gives Naruto a tight squeeze and lifts their conjoined hands, stuffing them in his jacket and says, smug, “I like it.”

Naruto asks, albeit a little confused, “Sweat.”

“No,” Sasuke smirks slanting his eyes to him, “That I make you nervous.”

There is a spike in his chest, but he ignores it to unwind from Sasuke’s grip, “Oh, fuck off! I’m not nervous! There are a lot of people here! I’m hot!”

Naruto’s cradling his fist to his chest and sputtering excuses but pauses when he catches Sasuke giving him a once over, eyes dragging down the length of his body and that again kicks the heat under his skin up a notch. The bastard has the audacity to say, “Yeah, you are.”

The insolent smirk stays and Naruto bloats in embarrassment on top of preening at the compliment, he shoves past the guy into the line where the security scans the tickets and Sasuke lingers behind him.

After a million years, along with a trillion sorry’s to the people they’re stepping over, Naruto and Sasuke find their seats.

The game is off to a promising start until the point guard misses his shot and then like all, unfortunately, Knick games this one starts going down the drain too. Raptors aren’t even a good team! What are the boys doing!?

It’s the power forward who evens out the game and Naruto jumps in excitement, “Yes, that’s how we bring it home!”

Sasuke shouts the forward’s name and Naruto slaps his back excitedly. Everything is going well, truly, until Naruto’s jerking out of his seat, the soft pretzel that Sasuke had bought (they divided the bills; Naruto paid for the gyro) doused in mustard goes flying everywhere—well, everywhere on the guy next to him.

“Yo, buddy, what the fuck?”

Naruto glances at the huge yellow blob on the man’s chest, his thick red beard and back at the court, “C’mon Knicks!!”

“Oi!” The man grips his shoulders and pulls him, “Did you not hear me dumbass?”

Naruto frowns, “HEY! I heard you I’m just ignoring you!”

“You ruined my shirt!”

“I think it’s a nice addition! Adds color,” Naruto sticks out his tongue. Oh right, he forgot to mention, he might be a little buzzed on the massive Super-Size Me cup of beer he’d gotten. The man roughly pushes Naruto, his knee hitting the seat and back knocking into Sasuke. The raven steadies him while Naruto can sense the boundless fury surging in him—the Knicks are losing, this dickhead just pushed him, and his pretzel is now only half-covered in mustard! This is a tragedy!

The blonde hands the pretzel to his date, pushing up the sleeves of the shirt he’s wearing under his jersey, “You wanna fight, big guy?”

“Naruto, what are you doing?” Sasuke hisses at his ear. “That man is twice your size.”

“I can take him Sasuke he thinks he’s tough shit.”

“He can pound your skull into the ground. Learn to choose your battles.”

Naruto gasps softly, pouting to Sasuke who is standing really close, his face barely a few centimeters from Naruto’s, “You don’t have any faith in me.”

Sasuke says flatly, “I do but I rather not carry your broken limbs back home.”

“Oi, blondie, you done chit-chatting?”

They’ve attracted a crowd now, the game going into half-time, but Naruto replies in the same aloof confidence as earlier, “My boyfriend is going to kick your ass!”

“What?” Sasuke and the guy say in unison.

“Yeah! He’s got a black belt in Judo, bitch, he’ll have you on your back in two seconds flat.” He drunkenly swings a fist in demonstration, but the guy is far enough it doesn’t hit him.

The man now glowers at Sasuke who cups a hand around Naruto’s mouth, the blonde wrestles under his boyfriend’s grip, “Ignore him. He’s just a little drunk and going through a rough time.”

“And?” The antagonist prompts.

Sasuke is a master swindler, Naruto has learned in his many years of knowing the man. An expert liar if need be. He can convince anyone anything and right now he soothingly rubs down one of Naruto’s arm, a melancholic look in place, “He recently went through a breakup—longtime boyfriend—so he’s not coping well. We came here to see his favorite team because he hasn’t left his room in AGES and you know? Breakups are hard.”

The older man visibly deflates, nodding, “They are.”

Gauging between the two men, the man shares his own fresh heartbreak, “Happened to me a little bit ago. So, I get that. Whatever it takes to unlearn the person.”

Naruto can feel Sasuke’s hold on him slacken. Turning to the other he watches the visage shift into something hurt, or at least, a more real reaction. The man settles back in his seat and the game starts up, and there on the mood is vaguely somber.

Outside the sports fans mirror their mood. The Knicks lose and it echoes in the lull that’s created with everyone heading home. Sasuke’s no longer holding Naruto’s hand either and he sorta misses it. After the slight altercation, the other man was far more reserved than he’d been all evening which pretty much sobers up Naruto. He vaguely recalls Sasuke recounting his own fairly recent breakup and like clockwork, he hears Karin’s warning ring in his head.

Did he jump too soon into this? Did he delude himself to think he felt something and could make Sasuke feel something? But then the rest of the night comes back flashing in increments that grain by grain pick apart his doubts to replace it with something sturdier.

Glancing to the side he takes in Sasuke’s side profile. The sharpness of his jaw complements the fierceness of his eyes, but the softness of his mouth throws the balance out the window. No. His feelings aren’t unfounded. There is something here and he’s not going to give up just because he has to try a touch harder than he’d anticipated. Sasuke is his best friend, but Naruto wants them to explore the more that has potential between them.

He comes to stand in front of Sasuke, pulls off his hat and places it on the other man. Bringing the brim down he says, “I had a lot of fun today.”

Sasuke smiles, it’s not right though, it’s a little off. Naruto continues, “But the Knicks suck! So bad! But it was the best night!”

“Cause they lost….?”

“No that’s the second highlight of today.”

Sasuke laughs a little, life coming back to the sound, “We’re true masochists rooting for a team that loses so often.”

“Is it really a loss if we truly think about it?”

“We lost to the raptors, Naruto. They aren’t even American.”

Naruto shakes his head in disappointment, hair all ruffled, “God, I hate this country.”

Then steps forward, he dares to do something he wouldn’t normally, places his arms over Sasuke’s shoulders. The man tilts his head up, eyes hooded under the bill of the hat, “I really did have a wonderful time.” He clasps his fingers around the nape of Sasuke’s neck, “My very handsome swindler boyfriend saved my ass from a big scary guy today.”

Sasuke’s now laughing, low and quiet for Naruto, but there isn’t anything forlorn about it, “Who said lying won’t get you anywhere?”

Naruto bites down on his bottom lip, braving the next statement, “Do you miss him that much?”

Sasuke’s features alert for a fraction of a second, “No, no. It’s just.” He gathers his thoughts, “When you date someone it’s like you’re taking one long course in who that person is but once you break up all that stuff becomes useless. I guess remembering all that there when that guy mentioned unlearning a person took me back.”

Apologetically he tilts his head, his ear squishing on Naruto’s forearm, “I’m sorry for ruining the date. It was nearly perfect even by our standards.”

“Pssh,” Naruto rolls his eyes, “This was just a first date. I’ve still got plenty up my sleeve.”

Sasuke does something unexpected. He hugs him. All warm and tight where you give the person that extra squeeze and they sort of mold to your form. Or at least that’s what Naruto does. Wrapping like a koala clinging to an oak tree, he too clings to this man.

He whispers, words not even meant for the air to envelop around, just for Naruto, only for Naruto, “Next time I’ll take you out. Charm you until you’re head over heels.”

Naruto can’t stutter out a reply because his heart is speaking for him _too late_.

~

Karin calls him around 2 in the afternoon, Naruto was sunk into the couch, molding to the cushion, fingers dusted in the salts of the bag of lays he’d been scarfing down. He had a day off, okay? Class got canceled and he doesn’t have work. He’s allowed to slobber once in a while.

“Heads up, Sasuke’s clinic lost that case they’d been working on,” she gets straight to the point, no courtesy manners or anything. “He’s pissed cause it’s that guy Kabuto’s fault for not prepping for the trial and falsifying the evidence.”

“What the fuck?” Naruto sits up. “God, Sasuke had been pulling all-nighters over this case.”

“I know. The little girl and he talked for hours last week too. He was really hopeful about this one.”

“Judge didn’t call mistrial?”

“Nope,” she sighs into a pant, there is honking on the other end of the line and then a guy gruffly cursing in a Queens accent. “So, I was going to come over with some pizza and I don’t know, we could distract him.”

Naruto has a better idea. “How far are you from my place?”

“Just left campus, why?”

“I’ll call you in like 20 minutes. Don’t get pizza, but can you drop by H mart? I’ll venmo you some money.”

“Sure, just send me a list.”

Naruto hangs up and hits the one on speed dial. The phone rings twice before a sweet _hello_ comes through.

“Hey, mom!”

“Naruto, honey, what a pleasant surprise! I was just talking to Kakashi how we should call the boys and have lunch sometime before your finals,” Mikoto informs.

“Oh, that’d be great,” he hurries to shift the conversation, “Actually, I was calling for something urgent. Can you send me the recipe for Nabe? I need to buy the ingredients.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” there is rustling over the phone line, Mikoto’s voice slightly distant as she asks, “Is Sasuke fine? I talked to him two days ago and he was stressed about the clinic he’s working in.”

Not wanting to worry Mikoto, he explains, “He’s fine. Well, probably, it could be better. But I’m hoping this will make his day better.”

“You’re so lovely to him.” Naruto blushes at the compliment, “I’m glad he has good friends.”

Biting his tongue, he remembers they haven’t informed their parents of their recent relationship development. But that’s okay, they’re taking it slow anyway. Parents don’t even come for most couples until a good chunk of time has passed.

“Anything for that guy.”

“Alright, I got everything you wanted.” Karin closes the door with the heel of her thigh-high boots, dropping the paper bag of groceries and the plastic bag that’s got soy sauce and mirin peeking out of it on the counter.

Naruto’s got the pot on the stove, the vegetables he had in the fridge washed on the cutting board. “Awesome. Now help me cook.”

The redhead gives him an affronted look. “What? Are you an idiot? Why in god’s name would you think I know how to cook—“

“What do you mean you don't—“

“Is it cause I’m a girl, Naruto? You know what that is? Sexist, Naruto. It’s sexist.” Karin enunciates poking him in the chest with her index finger, Naruto rocking back on the heel of his feet.

“What!! That’s not why! Suigetsu said—“

“Well, that’s your first mistake. Listening to Suigetsu.” She moves aside tying her hair up and studying the recipe that Naruto scratched onto his yellow memo pad. She wrinkles her nose, glasses hitching up, “Okay this seems straightforward—“

Universe isn’t batting for him because Karin’s phone goes off, her face screwing up in concern as she moves out of the kitchen grabbing her bag and whispering reassurances to the other person on the line. Once she hangs up, she holds the phone to her chest, having the decency to look apologetic, “Girlfriend calls.”

Naruto nods, understanding, “Go, go, I’ll figure it out myself.”

And figure it out he did. Or he hopes. He’s turning the dial of the stove to low heat, letting the stew cook when the door opens again. Naruto can tell from the sound steps that Sasuke’s not in a good mood, there is a shift in the man’s gait, the way he’s more expressive about his anger through every inch of his body.

“Hey,” he greets the man who got a somber stance to his motions. Sasuke drops his satchel on the sofa and juts a thumb out to the door of his room.

“I think I’m going to sleep.”

Naruto scurries over, “Wait, eat something. You’ve been out of the house all morning and doubt had the time to grab a bite.”

Sasuke begins to protest, but Naruto offers, “I made Chanko Nabe.”

“What? You made it?”

“Yeah.” Fluttering nervous hands towards the open doorway of the kitchen—there is no door, never was—he says, “Eat something then sleep.”

They put the hot pot on the coffee table they eat on in the living room, Sasuke’s sitting on the floor, back pressed to the recliner chair and Naruto’s squished between the sofa and the table on the floor.

“I heard about the clinic case you’d been working on,” he pours some of the broth and vegetables and shrimp into Sasuke’s bowl. “I’m sorry.”

Sasuke releases a long breath as if he’s been holding it in for a while, “You know, the kid, the man’s daughter, she’s going to be here alone now. They don’t have any other extended family who could take her in, so she’ll be inadvertently put into the foster system. Separated from her only family and thrown into a system that’s been crumbling at its foundation for years due to how poorly it’s funded.”

Naruto sees the slump of Sasuke’s shoulders, the furrow of his brows, even his hands are clamped into fists outwardly expressing the simmering anger radiating from him. After a despondent lapse, the man says, “I thought I could help him—give them time at least for arrangements if they--but Kabuto had thought that this case wasn’t high profile enough for the lawyer that’s assigned to our clinic alongside the professor and purposely sabotaged it.”

“Fuck that guy. Is the professor holding him accountable?”

“Yeah, he’s removed from future accounts, but still. That won’t change the outcome of this particular one, right. It sucks we couldn’t do more.”

“That’s why we’re doing this; to change it, right?” Naruto says thoughtfully, it sits oddly on his tongue because usually, Karin buffers to bring reassurance coated in reason onto the table. “You did everything you could. You can’t be held accountable for someone else’s mistakes.” He’s used to being the comedic relief alongside Suigetsu’s natural wit. That changes now. They’re together and regardless, Naruto wants Sasuke to count on him more than ever—he wants to be the person he can come to, talk to, find comfort in.

Wanting these small bits to himself, does that make him selfish? He hopes not. There are parts of Sasuke, sides to Sasuke, Naruto’s never had the opportunity to discover. So, now, little by little he wants to unearth them.

“Yeah,” Sasuke grabs the chopsticks, and the spoon to sip at the broth. Before he takes a go, he gives Naruto a relieved smile, stress melting out of him, “Thanks…you didn’t have to do all this. How’d you even know how to cook this?”

Naruto’s legs are folded under the table and he knocks his knee against Sasuke’s, “Asked your mom. It probably isn’t as good as her’s but I worked all evening on it.”

Proudly he nods, intently watches Sasuke take the first go. The reaction is barely perceptible, Sasuke’s eyes widening a smidge before going back to their normal size and Naruto eagerly waits for a response. The man swallows down the shredded carrot along with the broth and gives a thumb up.

“How is it?”

“Good,” he clears his throat drinking a gulp of the water, “I love it.” Naruto grins before turning to his own bowl, but then something dawns on him. Sasuke loved it. He didn’t even critique his usual bantering comments…Naruto stares at his own bowl now.

Taking a bite, he chooses to decide for himself. Big fucking mistake.

Choking on the broth, he yells, “This is awful!”

Sasuke winces, “Well…..It’s not the best.”

“You said it was good!”

“You seemed to put a lot of time in it I wasn’t going to say it sucks!”

“So, you lie?” Naruto frowns. “This stuff tastes awful. What the fuck I followed the recipe perfectly?”

Sasuke takes another sip, quietly mumbling, “I think your talents are better used elsewhere; definitely not in the kitchen.”

Naruto hears the snippy remark, “Hey! Why do you keep eating it then!”

Sasuke shrugs in that ever-so Sasuke manner. Naruto reaches for his bowl, but he draws it away protectively, “What? You have yours.”

“Stop drinking that you’ll get sick! It tastes awful!”

“Too bad,” Sasuke puts his mouth to the lip of the bowl, Naruto reaches over to snatch it but Sasuke uses a hand to keep him at bay while chugging down 80% of the broth. The blonde keeps on prattling in his husky, overly loud, tone, “Sasuke, you’ll get sick stop drinking that!”

“No!” A drop of the golden liquid drips down his chin.

Naruto is momentarily distracted by it. “Because you made it for me. I have to finish it.”

“That’s ridiculous you’ll get food poisoning.”

Sasuke, honest to god, smiles, one of those lazy ones that tilt up the corner of his mouth and crinkle the side of his eyes. Naruto’s heart crawls up to his throat, there is still that drop of broth on his chin and still the fatigue in his shoulders and _yet_. God, he smiles. At Naruto.

“Then I’ll get food poisoning,” he picks out a curled shrimp and pops it into his mouth. Once he’s swallowed and Naruto’s spent the past few seconds staring, admiring, tracing parts of this boy’s face. He asks, “What?”

Absentmindedly, his tongue pokes out to lick at his lips. Naruto reaches over and swipes his thumb over Sasuke’s chin, cleaning it and then he’s all too close. Shakily, he exhales, “You know, how you said, when the moment comes we’ll know.”

Sasuke’s voice is soft, encouraging, “Yeah.”

“I think it’s here.”

The man smiles again taking Naruto’s wet thumb and pressing his mouth to it, a fleeting touch at first and then his tongue cleans the savory liquid. Hand still loosely held in Sasuke’s, Naruto arches forward and cups the side of his jaw. Turning the face to him, he slants his mouth onto Sasuke’s.

The kiss is chaste, too quick to become anything other than warm presses of two mouths. Naruto can still feel heat under the plump of his lips, and he recognizes it as Sasuke’s. Fire, so warm, often told to burn you. This, however, swathes him in a comfortable embrace.

A welcome mat, Naruto vaguely imposes. Sasuke’s mouth feels like one.

When they pull apart, Sasuke’s still rubbing circles into the back of his hand.

Naruto stupidly blushes, even more moronically admits, “Well, that was. Something.”

Sasuke chuckles, keeping their hands tangled and picking into his bowl with another. Sasuke’s ambidextrous. Naruto’s just enamored if he’s being honest.

“First of many,” Sasuke chews around the mushrooms and Naruto’s blushing a deeper red.

True to his word, Sasuke finishes the entire hotpot and Naruto begrudgingly helps. Afterward, they clean the dishes side by side at the sink in the kitchen. Later Naruto washes up first, and Sasuke uses the bathroom after him.

He’s just done changing into his sweatpants when there is a knock at the door.

“It’s open!”

Sasuke twists the handle open, standing in the doorway—now dressed out of his jeans into boxer shorts and a worn t-shirt; always running too warm—and asks, “Are you going to sleep?”

Naruto’s got a 9 am shift at Whole Foods. He nods, “Yeah, got work in the morning. You turning in too, right?”

“Yeah.”

Naruto turns back to lift his comforter, but Sasuke’s voice stills him, “Naruto, did you want to sleep with me tonight?”

Seems as if the heart in his throat is permanently wedged there, he speaks around the thickness, “What?”

Sasuke’s got one foot out of the door already, but his body is still pivoted in Naruto’s direction, “I want to get up and run some errands too so.”

_You don_ _’_ _t need to give me an excuse_ , Naruto uselessly vies.

“Okay.”

Under the comforter it’s terribly warm even for a December night, their shoddy radiator that never works pricks at his skin, but then Sasuke’s flicking off the lamp and slipping in beside him—a new wave of warmth coming with him. Naruto learns he quite likes this one. His feet touch the bareness of Sasuke’s legs, and his hand grazes the flimsy material of his cotton shirt.

In the quiet, the raven buries his nose in the crown of Naruto’s head, chest meeting back. It’s when he slips an arm around Naruto’s waist, properly drawing the blonde into him with a solid squeeze, that Naruto’s hit with the fact that _they_ _’_ _re together_. They kissed earlier. This is real.

Sasuke whispers to him, on the brink of sleep, “Thanks for today.”

Naruto smiles into the fluff of the pillow, hand tightening over Sasuke’s.

~

For six-hour shifts, you usually only get a fifteen. Naruto uses it to chug down a Gatorade, a granola bar or the occasional banana and catch up on his social media feed. But today when he enters the breakroom, the table where they eat has a huge bouquet of red and white Camellias in a pretty clear vase. Since young, he’s been rather fond of flowers. Growing up in Brooklyn, their apartment obviously didn’t have a backyard, but his grandma’s house in Long Island had a huge yard and Naruto loved gardening with her all summer.

“Wow,” Naruto awes at the beautiful flowers, the petals fluttering under his touch. Tenten’s standing on the other side admiring the bunch too, “Ten, I didn’t realize you were seeing someone? Did they send it for you?”

“Huh?” She’s holding a small slip of card that he assumes is for her and came along with the bunch.

Grazing the velvety skin of the petals, Naruto comments, “Red & white Camellias have a pretty nice meaning too. This guy must like you a lot.”

Tenten splits into an unrestrained laugh, proffering the folded card, “They’re for you, dummy. The manager asked me to put them back here for you so you can get them after your shift.”

Naruto’s eyes double in size. Taking the parchment from the brunette. She comments teasingly, “Anyway, you never told me _you_ were seeing someone?”

Unfolding the card, Naruto reads the message on it:

_they didn't have sunflowers. so i got the next best thing to the sun_ _—_ _hope this conveys the message._

“So, what does it say? What do they mean?”

Naruto flushes under the realization, cupping a flower bud in his palm, “Love. It means, uh, love and adoration.”

Tenten hoots excitedly, Naruto hides his face behind the plaque card unable to hide his growing smile. Fruitlessly he tries to tamp down the urge to scream into his fist or walk out of work to campus and kiss his stupid, stupid boyfriend.

But he decides to finish the rest of the shift. Struggling to open his door, a vase full of flowers in one hand, grocery bag in another, Naruto grunts, “Fucking open already.”

“Need help, loser?” Suigetsu calls from his side. He’s got his backpack on meaning he came straight from class. Naruto throws the keys at him as the man moves in front of him, suspiciously eyeing the vase in his hand. “Damn Uzumaki, trying to impress someone?”

“Sasuke sent them,” Naruto buries his smile into the open buds, “Aren’t they pretty?”

Suigetsu budges the door open right where it gets stuck, flicking on the lights, “He sent you flowers? Really?”

“Yep,” Naruto sets them down on the coffee table, admiring the way they fit their quaint apartment. Strolling over to the kitchen he places the bag of groceries on the counter, extracting a cup from the cabinet and filling it up with the water under the faucet of their sink. “Got on my fifteen and found them in the backroom. I don’t even know when he stopped by. I was on the floor the entire time.”

Suigetsu watches him inundate the vase with water, ripping open the packet of flower food and dumping it in. “Sasuke bought you flowers.”

“Yeah?”

“Our Sasuke bought you flowers.”

Naruto deadpans, “Yes, are you even listening to me?”

Suigetsu shakes his head in shock, rolling up his sleeves, “Dude, this is like not his thing. He doesn’t do this. He has moves and this isn’t even one of them.”

Naruto frowns, “What do you mean by that?”

“Like you know how you have signature _you_ things you do to impress your date? And I have my own little trick book. But Sasuke...His move is pretty standard. He shows outright interest and doesn’t do over the top stuff.”

“Buying someone flowers isn’t over the top,” Naruto points out, “A lot of couples do that.”

Suigetsu nods agreeing, “Yeah, but. Sasuke isn’t the flower buying guy that’s what I’m saying.”

Naruto chews on the inside of his gums, “So, he didn’t send them?” There is a hollow cavity expanding inside of him at the thought. But Suigetsu smiles, all smug, “No, I’m saying. He doesn’t do all that but he’s willing to for you... Which means Karin is wrong and Sasuke is—“

Naruto’s stomach turns, a stampede of elephants inside him, “—falling for me.”

~

Naruto rubs his mitten covered hands together, bouncing on the ball of his feet outside the WJ Hall waiting for Sasuke to be done with his meeting with his advisor. Snow flutters down obliquely from the nighttime sky. It’s cold, and silver and the flakes sit on the skin of his face. There is the characteristic wind New York cocoons in, diffusing into the cotton of the snow. Naruto buries a hand into his thick padded jacket, and draws out his phone, struggling to thumb at the home screen through his covered hands. Mittens are quite useless in helping with the opposable thumbs and fingers situation, but they’re cute. No hands, no movement, only abundance of warmth. Besides his mom bought these for him last Christmas and they’re his favorite.

The front door opens solidly, a gust of wind slipping past the students exiting, and amongst the group walking out, Naruto can see Sasuke. The man’s wearing a similar beanie covering the top of his ears, but Naruto can see the light redness to the bottom of the ear lobes. Sasuke shuffles next to him, shoulder bumping, “Sorry, she was telling me about the internship I applied for the summer. They contacted her for some transcripts and references.”

“Your chances looking good?” They weave through the student rush, it’s around 6 PM which is still fairly early in the day, but the sky is pitch black and the streets are illuminated by Christmas lights and lampposts, so it gives the air of it being much later. Sasuke’s got a peacoat on; not even owning a real winter jacket because he’s always complaining about being hot. The side bangs, that frame his face, fall from under his beanie and Naruto watches the snowflakes latch onto the feathered black of his hair. Jet-black twinkling with the soft snow. Sasuke’s so pretty, Naruto admires.

Sasuke knocks into him when they take a sharp turn towards Harlem. They’re going to stop to get some food before heading home. “Think so. I should hear back around New Years.”

“You’ll probably get it,” Naruto’s got his own gig lined up and should be hearing around the same time. He applied to an environmental law firm that advocates for a number of programs. It would be good if they both got in. “How was your day? What did you eat today? I had a cream cheese bagel and some of that weird cleanse juice Suigetsu left at ours.”

Sasuke’s mouth twists in concentration, he scratches his chin, “Got some curry with Jūgo after my second class, rice and ugh we split some dumplings.”

“Oh did you go to that place near Chelsea?”

“Nah, we stuck around here,” Sasuke vaguely gestures around campus. “The rest of the day was fine. I had to file some stuff for the clinic for the professor, but nothing hard. That girl—uh I forget her name, she’s seeing Shikamaru? She helped. What about you?”

“Temari!” Naruto replies, “Had class, then that four-hour shift, oh, I went to Pres with Karin to drop some lunch off for Sakura. I’m glad you had a good day though.”

“Just a normal Tuesday.”

“Yeah, but I liked hearing about it.”

Sasuke’s mouth loosens around the edges, “You actually enjoy knowing it, huh?”

“Yeah,” Naruto rubs the nape of his neck. “I don’t know, I like knowing what you ate, what you did, all that. Is that weird?”

“No, it’s quite nice. No one has been this attentive before.”

Naruto nods in understanding, the implied meaning behind it clear, mumbling out quietly, “Personally, if I could I’d love to know everything about you.”

Sasuke glances away, covering his mouth with gloved fingers, that lights a fire underneath Naruto’s skin. His throat feels raw, he asks, “What?”

“Shut up,” Sasuke mutters, “Saying stuff like that.”

Pouting the blonde replies, cheeks a deep flush now, “that’s how I feel.”

“I didn’t think this was possible,” Sasuke picks up his pace; Naruto is quick to follow after. He’s mostly talking to himself as he says, “Getting butterflies and shit.”

“What?” Naruto’s hand is on Sasuke’s bicep. The man rolls his eyes and there is warmth in them as he looks back at Naruto, “Feeling like this, it’s nice. I didn’t think—well, I don’t know. This is a first.”

“I give you butterflies?” Naruto mumbles dumbly, similar monarch’s fluttering in his own stomach.

Sasuke’s probably going to tell him to shut up again. But instead, he says, “Yes.”

Naruto blushes to the tip of his toes. They drop the subject after that.

They’re nearing the streets with all the restaurants he assumes.

The snow flutters horizontally, whisking to the direction of the wind, Naruto sticks out his tongue to catch one of the flakes. Sasuke’s glances up from his phone, wearing normal people gloves, of course, and asks, “What did you want to get we can get fried —“

Naruto turns to him, nose crinkled, tongue out, happily bumbling, “Look!”

Sasuke’s got the fondest gaze, Naruto swallows the flake and his boyfriend cups the side of his face. Under a lamppost they share an affectionate kiss, lips grazing lips, warmth emitting Sasuke’s gloved fingers. When they draw back, Naruto declares to the dancing in his stomach, “You give me butterflies too.”

Sasuke says, “Idiot.”

Christmas comes before they realize it. Naruto finds himself hiding from the bundle of tiny fists and shrill voices, hiding inside his grandma’s room from his baby cousins’ and nephews and nieces and answers the vibrating phone.

Sasuke’s deep baritone filters through the speakers, “Merry Christmas Eve.”

Naruto sighs a little, slackening against the door, “Merry Christmas Eve.”

“What’s that noise?” A cute _naruwotooo_ rips through the closed door and Naruto twists the lock on it.

“Am the favorite cousin, Sasuke, I’m high demand. You’re disturbing family time.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were actually liked by your cousins.”

“Fuck off, they love me. They wait all semester to see me! Big brother, Naruto.”

Sasuke tuts, “Now I have to fight children for your attention?”

Naruto blushes, then mentally chides at himself because Sasuke isn’t even here and is still able to elicit such strong reactions out of him, “Yes. My time is expensive.”

“What’s your price?”

“What are you willing to pay?”

Sasuke debates, “10, 20?”

“Thousand?” Naruto replies, astonished.

“No, dollars. Flat.”

“Go die.”

“Without you? C’mon, Naruto, it’s till the end of the line with us.”

“No, thanks, I’m happy where I am. You can choke.”

“You can live without me?”

“Perfectly.”

Sasuke doesn’t respond for a second, and Naruto’s falling into the trap, “Hey, where’d you go?”

“Perfectly, huh?”

At this point his skin is permanently warm, “Shut up.”

Sasuke says it, “I miss you.”

Naruto bites back a smile, “We saw each other on Wednesday.”

“ _Tooooooo_ long.”

“Some people would call that clingy,” Naruto jokes.

“Can I?”

“Can you what?”

“Cling for a bit,” Sasuke’s breathy over the phone as he says it, as if it’s a request he’s thought of.

Naruto’s heart doubles in his chest then triples and then it’s struggling to slip through his ribs, “Only if I can too.”

“You always can, Naruto.” Sasuke sounds so solid, sure in his admission, “As long as you need.”

Naruto wants to say something, not entirely sure what, but its blossoming at the tip of his tongue. His aunty knocks on the door—“Naruto, honey, you in there? Grandma is asking you to come and help get the china from the attic.”

“Coming!” He hollers back.

“Leaving me?” Sasuke says.

Naruto sighs, “Yeah, sorry, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Good night.”

Good night.” Naruto repeats back. “Oh, and Sasuke.”

“Hm?”

“I miss you too.”

~

They don’t do anything on valentine’s day. There is a snowstorm and the city is wrapped in six inches of thick white fluff covering pavement to pavement. The tops of the buildings are decorated in lights and snowflakes resembling gingerbread houses covered in frosting and New York shakes the slumber of cold stubbornly. It’s a week after, on a Saturday, that Naruto finds himself being maneuvered to change into real people clothes. No sweatpants. Actual Jeans. On his day off. His first day off in over a month.

“Whatever we’re doing better be worth it because so far I’m not liking where my Saturday plans are heading,” he complains tugging on his jeans and grabbing the sweater his mom had gotten him over Christmas. It’s mustard and got a bee embroidered in orange and black thread on the breast. The static from the fabric rubbing against his head makes his hair stand up in all directions. Sasuke, who is already dressed, steps forward and fixes his hair.

He smoothens the strands of hair that bounces back, falling onto Naruto’s forehead, and replies, “Can you stop complaining before we’ve even left?”

Naruto pouts, “It’s cold. Can’t we stay in and watch movies and cuddle.”

“That’s just your excuse to feel me up.”

Naruto’s mouth drops open in mock offense, “How dare you? Accuse me of such shameful behavior.”

Sasuke’s brow arches in question, “Your hand is literally on my ass right now.”

Naruto squeezes the peach-shaped bottom, “Now how did that end up there?”

“Here,” Sasuke twists around to grab Naruto’s coat that’s a size too big on him but it was on sale and he’s not one to turn down a good deal.

They end up at Central Park and Naruto complains incessantly until Sasuke’s at the ticket booth paying for the zoo tickets and Naruto’s beginning to understand that this is a _date_ because Sasuke folds his fingers into Naruto’s before dragging him towards the Polar Circle. Naruto sticks his nose against cold glass peering at the Macaroni Penguin that stares back at him, head tilting and eyes wide.

“He’s kinda mean-looking,” Naruto taps at the glass and Sasuke shuffles closer to him to inspect, “It’s the eyes.”

“Oh!” Naruto glances between the raven and the penguin and decisively announces, “He looks like you!”

Sasuke’s gives him a flat look, “Are you saying my face looks mean?”

“Yeah, your face always looks constipated and angry like a pufferfish.”

“Am I a penguin or a fish, can you decide?”

“Penguins are cuter, so I guess fish it is.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes darting towards the Tuffted Puffin, but Naruto clutches his hand, “I like ugly fish though!”

“I’d assume, fishcake,” Sasuke snickers. And Naruto pinches his side. They see the snow leopard next because Sasuke loves cats and he especially loves big, huge majestic cats. Watching his boyfriend animatedly shift from one exhibit to another settles a fuzzy cotton light feeling inside of him. Sasuke’s terribly fond of animals.

“I’m suspicious this date is more to appease your own liking than mine,” Naruto muses into the chilly air, rubbing together his gloved fingers—gloves Sasuke let him borrow. “Like the Zoo, c’mon, Sasuke.”  
  


“Are you complaining because you’re not enjoying yourself or this is another one of your elaborate ruse to rile me up?”

“Good point,” Naruto twirls around to now come face to face to Sasuke, walking backward he trusts Sasuke to help him dodge any unsuspecting wayfarer. “Have you considered everything I do is an elaborate ruse to rile you up?”  
  


“I have, and the question still remains, do you enjoy it _that_ much?”

Naruto hurries forward, eliminating the feeble distance between them and confirms with a stupendously beaming smile, “Why yes, I do. It’s my favorite pastime.”

“Because let me guess you take pride in crawling under people’s skin. That would make you a maggot, Naruto.”

“Ha,” Naruto harps gloriously, “That’s where you’re wrong. Not everyone is interesting enough to garner my attention like this, just you.”

Sasuke reels him in by the front of his sweater and kisses him lightly. They pull apart, a mischievous smile tickling at the edge of Naruto’s mouth, he clears his throat, and bounds forward, “Where to next, then, my trusty steed?” Sasuke kicks at the back of his knees.

They’re exiting the Grizzly Bear exhibit when Naruto’s stomach grumbles. Eventually, they’re navigating themselves back onto the subway near fifth avenue station from there they switch two lines one at Queensboro Plaza Station to the 7 and then at Court Station onto the G train. The weather’s actually not too bad so when they walk towards the restaurant Sasuke said he’s made a reservation at they don’t have curl into themselves to retain body heat. Not that Sasuke’s even affected by New York’s blizzardy glory because he’s been primed to siphon off heat to keep himself warm—a completely ordinary biological trait that’s not suspicious at all, if you were to ask Naruto.

Oh, this place is proper fancy. The type his Torts professor would go on an unending rant about how the ambiance was perfect and the food was cooked just right, but the company had ruined the whole darn experience. And Naruto’s never going to earn enough to visit establishments like this frequently enough where _this_ would be considered his go-to spot as opposed to a night of splurging. But Sasuke’s thumb is digging into the front pocket of his jeans and the reticent slouch of his shoulder’s tugs at Naruto’s heartstrings.

“This place is kinda high end for our usual taste, but Kakashi said they have the best Salmon in Brooklyn so,” Sasuke’s lips twist in concentration, eyes pulling up to the building.

Naruto kids, kicking at the pavement to hide the smile threatening break the surface of his skin, “Thought we were above these hipster, Instagram-pretty restaurants? What happened to never succumbing to the tourist mindset, dude?”

“Could bring Suigetsu here instead if you’re that bothered.”

“Oi! Bastard, that’s not what I mean,” Naruto flicks the side of Sasuke’s neck who swats away his hand laughing. “But seriously, we don’t have to eat here I would’ve been fine with some Korean Fried Chicken and Soju from K-town.”

Sasuke moves to enter the restaurant and echoes back Naruto’s own words from last November, “Or you can eat here with me and let me be your boyfriend for one night. Not your roommate, not your best friend, but your boyfriend.”

How can Naruto possibly say no to that?

Rustik Tavern true its name sticks to the moody, aged ambiance by being a cozy eatery that dispenses American food and booze in a narrow, brick-walled space with retro touches. They’ve got a candle flickering inside a glass jar sitting in the middle of the table, soft music plays in the background that makes it hard to discern the lyrics, but Naruto can feel the piano notes under the sole of his feet as they reverberate wall to wall. Mostly the inside is brimming with chatter, not loud where they can’t have a conversation, but enough where their words are intimately shared only between the two of them.

Naruto orders himself a burger despite Sasuke warning him to not pick into his food when he eventually regrets his decision. Obviously, the raven is right in his assumption because he orders himself the glazed salmon that is served with pan-seared asparagus, farro heirloom carrots, sautéed Flemish Brussel sprouts with an apricot bourbon reduction; which Naruto of course had begged to try, stabbing his fork at one of the carrots and pouting until Sasuke shared with him.

Halfway through dinner, they’re laughing into a comfortable resignation at the night being a success. Naruto dabs one of the sprouts into the sauce that’s sticking to Sasuke’s plate, slowly grazing his fork over the tangy reduction, “Soooo.”

“Hm?”

“Do you do this thing a lot,” his eyes that were concentrated on the plate drift up, watching Sasuke wipe at his mouth using a napkin, “Like, bring your dates out to fancy restaurants? Woo them until they’re totally smitten by you?”

“Not really,” Sasuke props his elbows on to the table, clasping his fingers to rest his chin on them. “Why the sudden interest?”

Naruto shrugs trying to be nonchalant, “Don’t know. I’ve never been on the receiving end to stuff like this so I’m trying to gauge your move. Between this and the flowers—”

“You didn’t like them?”

“No—no, actually it’s the opposite. You know, I love plants and gardening and all sorts of stuff like that, but Suigetsu said you don’t do that sort of thing, so I was wondering why the difference with me as opposed to your past boyfriends.”

“Perhaps it has to do with you being really important to me. It urges me to do things I wouldn’t do otherwise.”

Naruto flushes at the answer, the yellowish glow of the dim lights helps hide the rising color to his cheeks, “Okay, that was 100% a line.”

“As long as it works,” Sasuke’s index finger taps at his wrist. “Are you charmed by me, Naruto?”

“I want dessert,” he changes the topic, but seeing the smug smirk on Sasuke’s face that he’s hardly managing to hold back, Naruto can tell he didn’t need to answer.

Naturally, the night ends into a walk towards pebble beach. They settle on the smooth rocks that have been shaved by the river currents and laugh at shared stories.

“When I was younger, I hated Brooklyn,” Sasuke says after a beat of quaint silence that is followed by the sound of the river coming to kiss the rock that lay restless in its wait.

Naruto slants a wayward glance at his companion, mostly focused on keeping the beer bottle held loosely in his hand upright; they’d stopped at Duane Reade to buy a case before coming out here. Their own apartment isn’t even too far from the spot, yet this is the first time in three years Naruto’s visited it.

“You don’t say?”

“Being from the Bronx I’m engineered to like every other borough a little less,” Sasuke’s sitting in between his legs, head lolling on the side of Naruto’s thigh, “Home didn’t have one face, it was steep and hilly, flat, wooded, urban, and I never understood why anyone would choose to live elsewhere. Also, the fact that it stayed the same--even now, everything is just the same about the Bronx as it was in my childhood; the parks, the neighborhoods.”

Naruto hums in understanding, “Do you like it now?”

Sasuke runs a hand up and down Naruto’s left calf as if he’s trying to soothe him, “Yeah. A lot.”

“Any special reason?”

The question prompts him to kiss the top of Naruto’s knee, the heat of Sasuke’s mouth—albeit fleeting—sending goosebumps through the fabric of his jeans, “So many reasons.”

~

Naruto’s got one leg on the back of the couch, toes wiggling next to Sasuke’s head, and another leg splayed out into his boyfriend’s lap. Sasuke’s back is to the arm of the couch too, on the opposite end, one leg dangling off the sofa, and the other stretched out. There is a laptop resting on top of Naruto’s calf as Sasuke finishes up some research for his clinic.

“Honeybun.”

Sasuke slants his eyes at him in disgust. Naruto snickers at the reaction, “Alright, what about darling?”

“What are we living in the nineteenth century?”

Naruto rolls his eyes scrolling down the list, reading another term of endearment from the list he’s got pulled up, “Beloved?”

“So, now not only are we in the nineteenth-century but one of us has also contracted a fatal disease and are dying from it all the while coughing up into beige colored paper while writing our woes.”

Naruto spills into a laugh, biting down on his lip, “You really have an active imagination.”

“Read a lot of Victorian novels in middle school during detention so.”

“Buttercup.”

“Fuck no.”

Moving down the list, Naruto eyes the next word and devises a plan. Mischief alights his next movements, he uses the foot in Sasuke’s lap, toes especially, to dig under the folds of his shirt. Sasuke glances up questioningly, “Yes?”

“Baby,” Naruto’s raspy voice calls, putting his best seductive tone behind his word.

Sasuke shoves at his foot, clearly unamused, “What am I? An infant?”

Naruto deflates, pouting at his pitiable excuse of a boyfriend, “You’re no _funnn_ , Sasuke!”

“Sucks for you.”

“Truly,” Naruto huffs and sees another nickname. Snickering he clicks his phone close, pulling back his legs and crawling over to Sasuke. The other man pointedly ignores him, so Naruto picks up his laptop and puts it aside on the coffee table. Sasuke nose wrinkles in annoyance, “What.”

“How about….” Naruto leans forward to whisper into Sasuke’s ear, one hand on the man’s thigh, “ _Daddy_.”

Sasuke pushes his face so hard Naruto topples back, but instead of letting him fall back on the couch, the raven kicks at his butt until he falls onto the floor with a resounding thud. Naruto yowls in pain, jerking up and complaining, “You’re an asshole!”

“Serves you right for spouting nonsense.”

Naruto crosses his legs, pouting as he holds onto his feet, rocking back and forth, “Well, you won’t call me anything romantic! You know, Karin calls Sakura _babe_. That’s _soooo_ cute.”

Sasuke flips him off going back to his laptop. Naruto should really admit defeat. But that’s something he’s never been good at so. Getting off the floor he kneels on the couch and then flops on top of Sasuke. Sneaking his hands under the raven’s shirt he touches the planes of his stomach, Sasuke pushes his face back trying to read the book he’d grabbed back from the table, but Naruto persists.

“What now?”

Breaking into a full-face grin, Naruto’s fingers gingerly brush up and down his sides. Sasuke stills realizing what’s happening before a little laugh escapes his mouth, “Naruto, you idiot!”

Shoving up the shirt, Naruto tickles under the other’s armpits. His boyfriend holding back his laugh into the cushion of the couch, one hand held out in a futile attempt to stop Naruto, “I’ve got you now, bastard.”

Ultimately, the blonde relents once Sasuke’s crumbled into wheezes of choked laughter. Naruto drops a small kiss under his chin and Sasuke peers down, catching his breath, their legs are entangled now, and Sasuke’s laptop’s lid is closed again, “I wanted to be close, jerk.”

Coal eyes soften into a grey, one that resembles charcoal drawn dove feathers, and his speech reflects his mien, “Dumbass.”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Naruto buries a smile into the crook of Sasuke’s shoulder. Well, maybe, not all terms of endearment are the same. Not for them at least.

Sasuke presses close, Naruto’s hand rubbing up and down the man’s thigh, all the while working through his assignment.

~

Naruto drops his backpack next to the couch before planting his ass on the cushion, molding into the plush. Fridays are his longest days from volunteering to class to work he’s actually beat. The weather has been bipolar lately for late February seeing as it was about 60 degrees yesterday and today it’s stone-cold 15. Blindly he searches for the remote to the tv and turning the channel to a viewing of the second Jurassic Park. Naruto used to love those movies as a kid.

Sasuke has Friday off aside from his part-time in the morning, so when the door to his room creaks open, Naruto calls out, “I’m not moving from this couch for the next three days.”

“Hm,” Sasuke hums—not elaborating. Naruto glances to his left only to face sliver of tan skin peeking from between where Sasuke’s sweater ends and low-riding sweatpants sit. Naruto blinks at the sharp V of the hipbones that’s awfully prominent and wills to pry his eyes away from the exposed skin to crawl up the length of Sasuke’s body.

Sasuke’s got one of Naruto’s headbands pushing back his short bangs, a wine box in hand. Grey eyes remain fixated on the TV screen, “What are we watching?” His words come out a little slurred around his own spit.

Naruto swallows thickly, “Jurassic Park.”

“Cool,” Sasuke settles beside him. Their shoulders brush lightly.

Naruto looks forward. Okay, he’s not stupid. He knows that sweater. This is a move. Sasuke is 100% making a move. Jeff Goldblum screams right as Naruto voices, eyes still facing forward, “Is that the sex sweater?”

“Yep.”

“Does this mean something, or you didn’t do laundry again?”

“I did laundry.”

Naruto opens his mouth and closes it again. “Sasuke, are you trying to seduce me?”

Sasuke turns to him, unbothered like Naruto isn’t halfway to a quarter-life crisis due to him, “Is it working?”

Naruto hisses putting distance between them, finger-pointing at Sasuke accusingly, “I knew it! I thought we’re taking it slow! This isn’t slow!”

“We’ve been together for 3 months. How slow is _slow_?”

Naruto is trying really hard to focus on Sasuke’s face, but his eyes keep drifting down to Sasuke’s stomach, “It’s supposed to happen on its own!”

Turning away, Sasuke doesn’t argue. Keeps sucking on the fucking straw like his life depends on it. Naruto turns off the alarms ringing in his head. A few minutes later, helplessly his eyes draw back to Sasuke’s body. Because sure slow had been a buffer to refrain from their friendship barreling into awkward successive attempts at sex and intimacy, but he’s got the libido of a healthy twenty-four-year-old and he’s miraculously dating a really hot guy so sue him if he wants to throw out any semblance of self-restraint out the window.

“I haven’t had sex since October.” Why did he say that? What’s wrong with him? Literally, why is his mouth to brain filter barely functional?

Sasuke hollows out his cheek around the straw, then sighs wistfully, “September.”

Wow. That’s a while. Naruto cheekily grins, “Hand not cutting it anymore?”

The other goes to punch his shoulder, but Naruto stops him with a grin. Sasuke narrows his eyes, “And yours is?”

“I have a very active imagination,” he tilts his chin up in indignation. Sasuke snorts at that and Naruto wonders, “so, like.”

“What?”

“Do you think about me when….”

Sasuke smirks, it’s a little scary, “Nope.”

Naruto’s horrified. “What! I think about you!”

“Do you now?” The raven adjusts in his seat, the flimsy sweater that’s doing a piss poor job covering him rides up, “Care to elaborate?” The last of his words enunciated by him moving in closer to the blonde, breathing into his space.

Naruto jumps out of his seat, “You’re an asshole! I’m going to my room!”

“Don’t think about me too much,” Sasuke hollers at him. Naruto’s face burns.

This goes on for a week. Sasuke’s taken it upon himself to make Naruto’s life a living hell (albeit the fact that a part of him is thoroughly delighted at being pursued like this.)

_Still!_

If it’s not walking around the apartment shirtless, it’s their radiator being broken which their shitty landlord refuses to fix. So last Tuesday Sasuke decided to fix it himself which included that stupid sleeveless shirt they’d gotten at the summer festival they went to about a year ago and toned arms on display. Then there was the incident at the bar, Sasuke coming to stand flush behind him whispering right into his ear his order before he excused himself to the bathroom. Naruto was particularly bothered that night. Then yesterday after class when they were walking down the hallway, Naruto had been busy talking Shikamaru’s ear off, Sasuke engrossed in his phone but his hand had wandered to Naruto’s back. The touch was fleeting, but Naruto properly malfunctioned. Sasuke and him haven’t even gone public, not really, but the act still sent shivers down his spine. And today, god, Naruto walked into their apartment where Sasuke and his group mates from one of his courses were sitting going over some case. Sasuke is the one who was helping deconstruct why the defendant had used a plea deal instead of taking the case to a full out trial.

Nothing is sexier than competence; nothing is especially sexier than Sasuke Uchiha concentrated over something he so clearly excels at. At least in Naruto’s world.

But then Sasuke had looked up at him right as he’d entered, long eyelashes fluttering behind the frame of his glasses, “Hey you’re back.” The smile he’d offered to Naruto, in a room full of people, flickered a particularly pleasant flame in Naruto’s stomach. He’d promptly assembled a night bag and left for Karin’s.

He’s not 100% if Sasuke’s doing it on purpose, but regardless he’s all wound up.

Karin opens the door in a turquoise face mask, “Yo!”

“Face masks and horror movie night?” Naruto steps in, lugging his duffle into the small apartment. Suigetsu’s in the kitchen leaning over the counter staring into the microwave, a pink scrub mask on and waves at Naruto. Jūgo’s inserting the DVD into Karin’s laptop, “No Sasuke?”

“Study group,” Naruto and Suigetsu say in unison.

“Not that we’re opposed to having you for the weekend,” Karin hands Naruto a tube of liquid mask. Naruto trails towards the open bathroom door and washes his face, “But is there a reason you brought more than a change of clothes?”

Naruto’s sporting his own magenta-colored pomegranate scrub mask and pouts, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Halfway through the movie, fingers buttery from the popcorn, he finally says it, “Sasuke wants to have sex.”

Suigetsu chokes on a kernel and Karin gives him a dirty glare, “Naruto how many times have we told you no details.”

Jūgo is the only one who pats his back, however hesitant the little dabs are. “You don’t wanna?”

“No, I’m just afraid what if it’s—“

“Bad?”

“Terrible?”

“Poor performance?”

“Thanks, guys, you sure know how to cheer up a guy.” Naruto mumbles into his knees, “I really like him. I want it to be good.”

“Oh you’re disgusting,” Karin groans into the arm of the couch. It’s Suigetsu who says, “I think it’s cute.”

“You just think Naruto’s cute.”

“He is!” Jūgo agrees.

Naruto cuddles into Jūgo’s shoulder as the older man reassures him, “He likes you too, Naruto. If you’re worried about your friendship, then I don’t think you have to.”

Karin rolls her eyes and Suigetsu throws his slipper at her, “Stop being an ass.”

“Fine, fine,” She grunts, all red herrings and snarls, “As much as I’m against this little experiment of you twos—for your own benefit—I do think there is nothing to worry about this bit in particular.”

Naruto gets up early and takes the train home. Even in the mornings, the traffic rush of the city clings to a particular kind of quiet that you’d only find in New York. As if the city isn’t fully awake and yet never went to sleep in the first place. The apartment is spotless, even the cups and pizza boxes from the night before lying on the coffee table that Naruto had seen are taken care of. So, he assumes Sasuke must’ve cleaned before sleeping. After dropping his things in his room, he carefully treads to Sasuke’s finding the man curled around sheets of papers, open Constitutional Law textbook, his laptop half-open, and glasses still perched on his nose. He’s snoring into the crook of his arm and the comforter is barely covering his form.

Naruto closes the laptop and stows it on top of the desk. Next, he gathers the papers, plucking the pen out of Sasuke’s clenched fingers and shuffles them in order before neatly placing them next to the laptop. Lastly, he hoists Sasuke’s foot that’s hanging off the edge and settles it on the bed, pulling the comforter properly on the man and fixing his neck so he’s now on the pillow and not straining. There’s going to be an awful crick if he didn’t fix his posture. Sasuke tends to be a light sleeper except when he’s bone-tired. Which seems to be the case right now, the other barely moving as Naruto tidies around him.

Once he’s satisfied, the older boy’s nose ducking under the fold of the comforter, Naruto inclines forward plucking the glasses off the man’s nose, folding them and placing them on the desk. Sunlight streams in through the open blinds, Naruto fondly pushes back Sasuke’s bangs. Leaning forward he presses his lips to the man’s forehead and draws back.

It’s in the doorway that he realizes. _I love you_.

~

Sasuke was right. He’s rarely ever wrong which has been a point of frustration for Naruto on many occasions. But when Sasuke had said: _it_ _’_ _s love, you_ _’_ _d know_.

Naruto knows.

He knows because the next day they make breakfast together and every time Sasuke brushes past him, Naruto wants to stop him. Hold his face and say, “ _Hey you. I love you_.”

On Sunday, they do laundry together and Sasuke counts the coins in Naruto’s frog purse and he squints because he’s far-sighted and the instructions on the washer are blurry so it’s always hard to read _colors_ from _whites_ and Naruto wants to kiss him. Because he forgot his glasses. Because he’s scrunching his nose in concentration. Because he’s kinda really cute. So, when the older lady sitting at the front puts up the newspaper, Naruto pushes Sasuke against the wall that’s got the dryers.

Naruto kisses him, and Sasuke smiles against his mouth and he can tell because he feels the edge of it, the way it curves to Naruto’s lips, and Naruto smiles too. They pull apart. Sasuke scratches at the nape of his neck, and whispers, “We’re going to get kicked out if we keep this up.”

_I love you_.

Naruto pouts and buries his nose in the other’s neck. “I don’t care.”

~

“Suigetsu is a fucking idiot,” Naruto tugs off his shoes near the entrance and Sasuke flips on the lights. The room warms up brightly and the raven slips into a laugh too, brushing past him to slip out of his coat. He hangs it on the hook behind the door and shuffles towards the couch. Naruto falls into his side. “You’re the one who challenged him—you know he can’t turn down one.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten food poisoning yet.” Their laughter peters out into a staggered breath. Sasuke’s lips twitched into a smile and Naruto thinks. He’s been thinking. It’s been two weeks since the Jurassic Park’s incident—as their group has dubbed it—and he’s been thinking.

Sasuke pushes at his face, “You have a stupid face.”

“You have an ugly face.”

“Is that why you’re always staring?”

Naruto deadpans, “Yes, trying to understand how such an ugly mug was put together.”

“What’s your hand doing?”

The blonde feigns ignorance, “What do you mean?”

Sasuke plucks it from his side where the blonde was touching the bare skin, “Getting handsy now, are we?”

Naruto’s face burns but he’s decided so might as well put all his eggs in one basket, “Is the offer still on the table?”

“Offer, offer, what offer was it? There’s been plenty of offers.” Sasuke’s face screws up in thought, “Why don’t you refresh my memory?”

“Oh, come on, Sasuke. Don’t make me beg.” Naruto’s whining. He’s 110% whining.

Sasuke snickers.

Naruto breathes out a quiet, “fuck it.” Their lips graze briefly before he puts the slightest distance between them, but Sasuke’s fisting his hair right above the nape of his neck and kissing him with teeth, a little messy and definitely wet.

“Race you to the bedroom?”

They stumble into Naruto’s bedroom, the blonde is latched onto Sasuke’s neck peppering kisses down the length, “Naruto we aren’t sleeping here.”

“Why what’s wrong?” He moves a hand forward to the front of Sasuke’s jeans.

“When was the last time you changed your sheets?”

“Really?” Naruto draws back to maneuver around the man. “That’s what you’re worried about? Sasuke. We have more important things at hand.”

“Pretty sure these are the same ones you put on during winter break.” Sasuke’s launched a full-on investigation and the thin thread of patience Naruto has is about to snap.

“Who cares they’re about to get dirty anyway,” Naruto flippantly regards, eyebrows wagging impishly.

“Overconfident.”

“Self-assured!” Naruto blushes.

Sasuke strolls over to his bed and sits down at the edge, legs spread open like the asshole he is and leans back on his left hand, “Do you even have lube?”

Naruto rolls his eyes, “Of course, I restocked.”

Sasuke’s brow rises in amusement, “Presumptuous.”

“Hey!” Naruto slips out of his hoodie, tossing it at Sasuke’s head who catches the folded clothing, “You were parading around all sexy I have needs!”

Sasuke purses, there is a twitch at the side of his mouth that Naruto can tell is him biting on his gums, “Cute.”

“Shut up.” His cheeks are so warm.

“Come here.” Naruto follows the voice, coming to stand in front of Sasuke in-between his legs. Tipping his head down they meet in a kiss. Tingling climbs up the planes of his skin and dizziness swirls in his stomach and Sasuke’s kissing his mouth. Tongues twisting around each other, kissing Naruto so obscenely that it bubbles a whiny moan from his throat.

Somehow the distance is still so much because Naruto shuffles closer until he’s got one leg wedged between Sasuke, kneeling on the bed, holding the other man’s jaw tightly. Everything is warm and soft and giving him a heady rush.

Lean fingers work open his jeans and Naruto’s suddenly aware of what’s happening. He flusters and steps back out of Sasuke’s grasp, “You don’t have to do that!”

“You don’t want me to?”

“Yes—I mean only if you want to—I mean I know some guys don’t like to, aren’t into that.”

Sasuke laughs. “Lucky for you then,” he hooks his index finger into one of his belt loops and drags him in.

Sasuke lifts his shirt and presses a kiss to his belly button. Naruto bites down a chuckle.

He’d be lying if he said he hasn’t fantasized about this before. But reality is always a touch better. Sasuke pushes down his pants, mouth now back on Naruto’s, lips melting around pillowy ones. Pulling apart only to catch their breath, Sasuke brings a hand to cup the prominent bulge in Naruto’s boxer. The next few things happen in quick successions, Naruto blinks to adjust to the rising heat around him and Sasuke’s pushing down the band of his boxers.

There is a brief silence punctured only by their breathing.

Naruto flushes at Sasuke’s gaze. “Don’t just stare!”

Sasuke blinks up owlishly, the sunlight streaming into the room sinking into his already golden skin, “I’m appreciating the view.”

“Could do that while you put that mouth to work?”

Sasuke bites at his hipbone, a smirk pressing into his skin and Naruto shudders, “Or I can keep teasing you—“

“Sasuke—less talking and—“

“And?”

“You’re so frustrating I swear to—“

The raven swallows him whole and Naruto’s breath gets stuck in his throat.

“Oh _shit_.” Since he’s standing with nothing to support himself, he grips the cuts of Sasuke’s biceps with his left hand, not giving in to the shaky tremor of his legs. There is ringing in his ear. _Why didn_ _’_ _t we do this before?_

Tufts of black hair tickles where his t-shirt is rising, he cards his fingers through it, more to steady himself than anything else. Sasuke’s tongue licks his underside and he’s a little teethy, but this is the best blowjob he’s ever gotten. The pressure building in his stomach doubles, there is sweat lining his hairline, and Sasuke hollows out his cheeks and Naruto’s knees almost buckle. He sucks and pulls back a little stroking Naruto with his other hand.

“Oh, _god_ , I’m going to come—stop—stop.”

Sasuke pulls back with a soft pop, his pupils blown out in desire, and lips stained a deep red and swollen and sure Naruto feels wrecked in the metaphorical and literal sense, but the way the man glances up at him has him careening forward to kiss him. This time it’s wet and slobbery, and Naruto tastes the precome on his boyfriend’s tongue. Sasuke speaks into his mouth, “You were close.”

“I know,” Naruto kicks out his boxers and jeans, tugging Sasuke too by the front of his turtle neck. They kiss standing upright, his own hands wandering under the black shirt, he pushes it up. Sasuke raises his hands, detaching from Naruto’s kisses, only to fall back to his touch as Naruto takes off the shirt. He brings a hand to cup Sasuke’s face in one hand and bites his chin, then down to lick at his throat, then under his ear, and his other hand works him free from his jeans.

“Too many clothes,” Naruto mumbles. Sasuke agrees because he takes off Naruto’s flimsy cotton shirt next.

The raven chooses then to shuffle back until the back of his knees hit the bed, ass landing on the mattress he shuffles back and Naruto pouts. “Stop frowning you big puppy, come here,” Sasuke beckons him with a laugh.

Naruto stutters because Sasuke looks amazing naked and he has to slowly look up and down, trying to commit it all to memory. Then as if satisfied, he bounds forward, on his hands and knees, excitedly coming to circle the other man, arms linking behind his neck.

He kisses his cheeks, then up to his forehead and then the crown of his head, and Sasuke’s hair smells like their shampoo—apples. Sasuke laughs, nudging his head under Naruto’s chin, “Are you eating my hair?”

“No! I’m sniffing it!”

“You’re so fucking weird, Naruto.” The blonde laughs into the thick black tresses then travels down Sasuke’s collarbones. He kisses there, peppers tiny smooches on his pert brown nipples and Sasuke huffs into a choked laugh until Naruto’s found himself down between the other’s legs, teeth sinking into the tight muscle of the other’s thighs. He can feel the vibrations below him, and it makes him smile, a hiss escaping Sasuke traitorously, “How’d you find _that_ spot so quickly?”

Naruto preens at the realization and smiles into the fleeting kiss he presses to the newly blossoming hickey on the inside of Sasuke’s thighs, “It’s a secret.”

“You’re an idiot,” to which Naruto beams, “Get the lube, loser.”

Naruto sticks out his tongue at that shuffling around the sheets, his foot gets caught in the fold as he’s hurrying, and he flops forward on his chest. Sasuke bursts out into laughter. Naruto twists his neck back and glares, “Stop laughing at me!”

“Stop giving me a reason to,” Sasuke shrugs.

Naruto retrieves the tube and brandishes it victoriously. Sasuke shakes his head, “One would think you haven’t done this before seeing how excited you are.”

“I haven’t!” Naruto announces and Sasuke’s eyebrows narrow briefly until he further explains, “Not with you.” Suddenly shy about his admission he scratches his cheek, knowing his skin is healthy pink now, all his feelings on display.

Sasuke’s eyes widen a smidge. He doesn’t say anything though, spreads his legs so Naruto can fit in between. Naruto fumbles with the lube and Sasuke offers, “I can do it.”

“No I like it, let me.”

“You sure?”

Sasuke leans back on the pillows stuffed against the headboard right as Naruto slips one finger in. He bites down on a moan and Naruto complains, “ _Sasukeee_ , c’mon let me hear you.”

Instead, he brings Naruto closer to kiss him, the blonde happily swallows all the sounds he’d never thought to be on the receiving end of. Three fingers in, Naruto’s properly scissoring him open and it’s when he curls it experimentally near the spot that Sasuke keels forward into his arms. Naruto grins victoriously, “Found it!”

Sasuke actually honest to god laughs through his labored breathing, “You’re so chatty during sex too.” He drops a kiss on the side of his mouth, “Fuck me, c’mon, this is good enough.”

“Yes sir,” Naruto lets Sasuke roll a condom down on him. He lines himself carefully pushing into Sasuke, slow and—oh there is a breathless sound coming from him that’s mirrored by Sasuke.

He stays still letting Sasuke adjust to him, but that seems to be the wrong choice because he’s being grasped from the back, a steady pace picking up, “You can go faster.”

“Why did we wait for so long to do this?”

“Cause you wanted slow.”

Naruto kisses Sasuke’s eyebrow, “Don’t ever listen to me again. All my ideas are stupid.”

Sasuke kisses his upper lip, one hand fisted in the soft curls that end at the nape of his neck, “Certainly, not all.”

Realizing what he means, Naruto’s flush deepens. Before he can process a response though, stomach bubbling in pleasure, Sasuke whispers, “Too slow.” And flips them over. God and isnt that a sight to see—Sasuke on top of him, riding him, hands coming to explore the skin of Naruto’s chest. Bringing his own hands to Sasuke’s thighs, he trails them up until they’re gripping at his hips following the rhythm set by his boyfriend. Sasuke’s relentless in his pace, following perfectly to every arch and rising before seating himself snugly back on Naruto’s cock in one swift movement.

Catching his bottom lip in between his sharp teeth, Sasuke grinds down and mutters into Naruto’s mouth, “This is a disaster.”

Naruto fleetingly worries— _oh god he thinks I_ _’_ _m boring he thinks this isn_ _’_ _t good maybe I_ _’_ _m not doing this right_ —but Sasuke’s blind to his internal struggles, finishing his thought, “How am I supposed to want to stop now?”

Tension spurred by nerves melts out of him, Naruto decides he’s not going to worry about this because this is _hot_ and his back is sticky and his breath is ragged and he tightens his hold on the back of Sasuke’s neck now, thumb brushing under his ear, “Don’t stop.” He blushes at his own candidness. Sasuke kisses scarred cheeks.

Finally, he touches Sasuke’s hardened cock, jerking him off between them as Sasuke rides him into his own climax.

“Together, Naruto, I want to—together.”

“Okay, okay,” he kisses under Sasuke’s chin. “Come with me.”

The orgasm lashes through him, skin melted from the heat it’s dissipating and the pleasure that surrounds it, his fingers covered in Sasuke’s come while he himself releases into the condom. There is a part of him that’s mortified at the cadence of his voice being hoarse from pleasure, the usual huskiness doubling in the after-effects of this mind-blowing orgasm. But seeing Sasuke just as wrecked squashes the embarrassment to replace it with a swelling emotion. Sasuke falls on top of him, chest touching chest, tufts of hair tickling Naruto’s lips.

Naruto spills into peals of laughter, Sasuke follows soon after. After a moment he asks, “I get to ride you next.”

Sasuke props his chin on his sternum, smirking all devilishly handsome, “After I have my way with your ass.” To prove his point, he sneaks a hand down to Naruto’s bare bottom and squeezes. The blonde yelps in indignation, “Well I’m not done with yours either!”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

“Give me a second, yeah?”

“Tired you out already? So much for the Uzumaki stamina.”

Naruto obviously takes the bait to the challenge and flips them over until he’s the one hovering on top, hands holding down Sasuke’s wrists loosely, “Oh, fuck you. I’ll show you stamina.”

Winter means the sun ducks around the horizon around 4:30, but it could be midnight for all they knew. They’ve been tangled in the sheets since they got back from lunch with the gang and Naruto only peeled himself from Sasuke’s body to grab a washcloth. Right now, he’s buried in between Sasuke’s legs, the comforter pulled over his head, so when he pulls up, the sheets cling around cornsilk hair; Sasuke smiles down at him.

“Having fun?”

Naruto beams at him. He nods kissing his stomach. Then mentions, “Hey Sasuke, did you know you had a mole on the inside of your thigh?”

Sasuke’s brows knot, “Really?”

The blonde arches up, propping himself on his knees, lifting one of Sasuke’s legs, “See!”

Sasuke leans down to see but it only serves him to be closer to Naruto’s face. They both blink at each other before the blond is stamping his mouth chastely on the others’. “I didn’t know that was there.”

“We should skip class tomorrow,” Naruto sagely suggests.

“Why?”

“There are better things to learn at home.”

“Such as?”

Naruto’s kissing around his latest discovery, mumbling into the supple flesh, “Well I’m severely behind on my Sasuke Uchiha studies. I need all the time to explore every inch—every part.”

Sasuke chuckles into his shoulder, wrapping his thigh around the other’s back, “Hrm, I have been neglecting my course too. We could probably study together.”

“Love the way you think,” Naruto squeezes his sides. “No school tomorrow. Just sex. Lots and lots of sex.”

Somewhere between sharing cup ramen and watching movies on Naruto’s laptop, and a lot more kissing and heavily inappropriate groping, they fall asleep. He wakes up on his chest, nose pressed into the pillow, cheek smashed against the fabric. Sasuke’s on top of his back already awake, rubbing a hand up and down his bare skin only to stop intermittently and brush his lips at the top of his shoulder, a little sideways to his spine, right in the middle too. It’s fairly early, the dream he was having was pleasant too, but the touch he wakes up to is softly familiar—lovelier. 

Through the cotton haze of sleep, Naruto mumbles, “Sasuke.”

“Hrm?” The reply comes in a favored kiss under his armpit. Naruto feels a warm breath there too.

“Don’t leave.”

Sasuke’s hand that previously was stroking down his side stills only to clutch onto him solidly, “Never.”

~

Naruto’s perched on the polished wooden table, legs dangling from the edge and hands snuck under Sasuke’s open parka, “Karin, are you done? I’m getting hungry and want to get lunch we’ve been here all morning.”

“Some of us _want_ to pass the midterms, Uzumaki,” she tuts adjusting her glasses. “Why are you in such a rush anyway we said we’ll leave by 2, didn’t we?”

Sasuke’s who’s scrolling on his phone mindlessly adds, “He’s meeting up with his other friends later, so he wants to get food beforehand.”

Suigetsu starts wrapping the charger cord for his laptop, “Oh is Kiba visiting?”  
  


“Yeah! Vet school is kicking his ass, and this is basically his only free weekend, so he drove up to see his dog and mom. I promised him the guys, and I will see him tonight.”

Karin taps her pencil on her chin, eyes narrowed at the blonde now, “Don’t we think it’s funny how Naruto has a whole separate group of friends that we never interact with?”

“Good point,” Suigetsu points at Naruto, “Rebuttal?”

“What! You guys can be friends with them! I always invite you but you never wanna come out.”

“Oh, philosophical conundrum—idea vs execution. Please discuss at length,” Suigetsu prompts both of them. Naruto squints at him in confusion, clearly Suigetsu swallowed one of the thick textbooks stacked next to his closed laptop.

“So, we can come today?” Karin asks.

Naruto blinks sheepishly, scratching at his cheek, “Actually, tonight is guys’ night so—”

“That’s just code for you don’t want us there.” Karin’s bright eyes glint in mirth, “Naruto’s straight friend group will not be interacting with his gay one.”

“What!”

“Bet you sit around talking about women and booze and whatever heteronormative stuff straight men are into.”

Naruto flusters, “I don’t do that! We just hang out and drink a little—”

“So, no women talk?”

“Shut up!”

“Dude, she’s got you lawyered.”

“Hey, why isn’t Suigetsu being grilled? He literally has so many friends and disappears with them all the time; how can we be sure he likes _us_?”

“Correction: I like everyone. And everyone likes _me_. Besides, I like you guys best everyone already knows this, Naruto, get your head out of your ass.” Suigetsu scribbles notes onto the thick reading packet splayed out in front of him.

Naruto grumbles, “Whatever it’s not like I don’t want you guys there.”

“We all know by you guys you mean Sasuke.”

This Sasuke pays attention to. He snorts, hand still idly stroking Naruto’s side.

“Karin, what did I ever do to you?”

“Nothing you’re simply so easy to pick on.”

Disgruntled he buries his face into Sasuke’s chest who pats his back in consolation, “There, there.”

Naruto glances up and Sasuke looks down and Karin’s teasing slips his mind. “You want me to hang out with your friends from high school?”

“Sometimes, yeah, mostly just want you there, to be honest.”

“I can come along next time.”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh, if it’s important to you then it’s important to me.”

From the left comes Karin’s noisy hacking sounds that they both ignore. Naruto pulls Sasuke down to kiss him. But first, he digs his nose into Sasuke’s cheek, beams into the kiss because of how Sasuke’s smiling at him. Since the other night, they’ve been a little how to put it delicately _distracted_ any time one of them touches the other. Naruto isn’t even into PDA but if he’s being honest when Sasuke kisses him his whole world gets zeroed into one person only and that person is Sasuke. So, of course, he loses track of where he is, opening his mouth so Sasuke can slip in his tongue.

They lazily makeout until a shrill crow from behind Sasuke startles them apart, “NO ACTS OF INDECENCY IN THE LIBRARY!”

The old woman throws them positively appalled look and Naruto flushes to the tips of his ears, burying into Sasuke’s chest and pull the parka around his head, “ _shit_.”

Sasuke laughs quietly, shaking against Naruto that it reverberates inside of him, meanwhile Suigetsu jokes, “You two had that coming.”

Karin says, “Goddamn now we _have_ to leave.”

Naruto picks up his head and pouts, “Sorry, I forgot where we were.”

Sasuke kisses his forehead tenderly.

~

Naruto wraps the golden tinsel around the small red string pouch. It’s not quite perfect, but it holds together. Mikoto pops her head into the room, “Honey, did you want some tea as well?”

“Oh, I’m good, thank you,” he holds up the little pouch and asks, “Is this okay?”

She steps forward crouching to his eye level, “Looks fine to me. Did Sasuke put you up to this?”

“Oh, no, I like to help. Besides, I think it’s cute he does this every year.”

She drifts towards the assortment of gifts wrapped in shiny paper and smiles, all fond and proud, “He’s been going to the youth center since he was seven. Those kids love him. I was surprised he wanted to continue this even in law school—you boys hardly have any time as is.”

Naruto touches the teddy bear he knows Sasuke picked for the girl who only ever wears pigtails, “He’s thoughtful like that.”

Mikoto hums, “How is he doing, Naruto?”

“I like to think he’s happy,” Naruto replies honestly. “Did he say otherwise?”

“Nah, I just worry. He’s my baby after all,” she snickers then ruffles his hair, “I’m sure you know what I mean since Kushina never shuts up about you.”

Naruto flushes, “Ma just needs an excuse to talk.”

“What’d you say brat?” The redhead pitches in, shuffling into the room, a tray in hand.

Quickly he stands up going to grab it from her, Kushina twists his ear moving the snacks away and Mikoto shakes her head. He whines out of her grip, “Ma! Come on!”

Later Naruto finds himself squished into Shisui’s side, his girlfriend on the other side, Sasuke’s sitting on the couch with legs crossed meanwhile he’s on the floor, top of his shoulders touching the other man’s knees. Minato’s on the recliner alongside Kushina. Mikoto and Fugaku are on the end of the couch next to Sasuke and Itachi’s sitting in the loveseat by himself.

Their families have been close for a while now, their moms knew each other from even before they were friends, but once they got close their families did too. So, now during breaks or instances when they have the time they get together for dinner and a movie. Naruto’s only vaguely paying attention, terribly aware of Sasuke’s fingers playing with his hair. Decidedly he glances back to see that Sasuke’s pretty into the film playing on the tv.

The plot is fine, although it starts dragging around the middle, so to curb his boredom he reaches forward to bring the bowl of popcorn into his lap. Naruto wonders when they should tell their parents about the recent development in their relationship. Those musings turn into him remembering the night before. Shifting a little on the carpet he inwardly chides himself on having such indecent thoughts, but Sasuke unknowingly chooses then to lean forward and prop his chin on Naruto’s head. Arms looped around the other’s neck.

Naruto settles comfortably into the added weight. Once his focus shifts back to the movie his previous thoughts flutter away. During one particularly charged action scene, Naruto’s scarfing down a handful of buttery popcorn. At one point, he’s so engaged he forgets to breathe. It’s when the scene is winding down Sasuke stretches out a hand to reach into the bowl, but it comes up short. Naruto’s about to lift the bowl for him when the raven says, distracted clearly as he’s still fixated on the screen, “Can I have some popcorn?”

Sasuke kisses the crown of his head.

Naruto freezes.

What.

Did that just happen? It must’ve right. Afraid he cranes his neck to the side to gauge Shisuui’s reaction, but he’s too damn invested in the movie. Not even his girlfriend who’s on his other side turns.

Did no one else saw that? Is he losing his fucking mind?

The bowl is in mid-air so Sasuke can reach it easily now. Once satisfied, the man retracts his hand. Naruto stays stuck in the same exact position. Sasuke’s damp fingers touching his neck spur him to set the bowl aside and draw his knees closer. He must’ve sucked the salt from them no wonder they’re a touch wet.

He buries his flamed cheeks into his knees, and the rest of the movie passes like that.

Standing over the sink he scrubs the bowl clean. Mikoto comes next to him, handing him another set of dirty dishes, “Makes sense why Sasuke’s been so happy.”

Stupidly Naruto says, “Huh?”

She wiggles her brow, “I saw what he did during the movie.”

“That’s—we—actually—It’s not what you think—“

Kushina comes barreling in, she seems to be shouting profanities in the general direction of the living room, “Your husband is a halfwit, Mikoto!”

“We can figure out your latest grievance with my husband later, but first I have much more exciting news.”

Does _no one_ realize Naruto’s losing his mind? The women don’t even acknowledge he’s still standing there wearing those stupid yellow rubber scrub gloves and the faucet running and where the fuck is Sasuke.

“Naruto?”

His stupidly expressive face gives everything away, his mothers’ eyes rounding, “What! You’re seeing someone?”

“I didn’t even say anything!”

She tuts in the same tone she used to when he’d lie after doing something bad when he was younger, “Sweetie, you think you can hide from your mum? Who is it? Do I know him? Her? Them?”

Naruto evades her knowing eyes, ducking and turning punch red.

“Hey, I brought the mugs too,” Sasuke enters the kitchen only to have his mother fondly stare him, Kushina’s bewildered expression and Naruto being in the motherfukcing hot seat.

Naruto’s mother has always been perceptive. Violet eyes dart between him and Sasuke.

“What!?”

Naruto hisses to shut her up, “Not so loud, mom!”

“What’s going on?” Sasuke asks setting down the dishes.

Mikoto winds her arms around Kushina’s shoulders, “I’ve always wanted to be in-laws! We’re going to be a big happy family.”

Kushina gleefully agrees right as Sasuke turns to him sharply, “What’d you do?”

“What did _I_ do!? This is all your fault!”

“What did _I_ do?”

That’s how their parents find out. Naruto narrowly escapes their parents prying questions by making an excuse for a long assignment and hauls Sasuke with him. They’re on the subway en route to Brooklyn when they lean into each other, remembering what started the mess, Naruto blushes. Sasuke’s holding his hand, rubbing circles into his palm. Naruto asks, “Hey, why’d you do that—I thought we didn’t—“

“Did what?” Sasuke confusedly looks at him.

“During the movie?”

“Huh?”

Sasuke hadn’t even realized. Naruto mutters under his breath, head shaking fondly as he cuddles into the other man. “Nothing.”

He’s smiling all the way home.

~

Naruto guides Sasuke towards their tiny bathroom, hands covering the raven’s eyes. “Don’t peek, okay?”

Sasuke grunts, too tired to even rebuttal. Naruto knocks his hip against the door that creaks open and the floral scents come wafting through. Earlier he’d run down to 86th and 2nd to collect supplies for his little idea. The customer service lady had been super nice, walking him through all the products even though he was about as clueless as a newborn baby deer, but regardless she’d slathered his hand in sweet-smelling lotion and advised him what to buy and whatnot. Sakura had given him the suggestion he’d readily taken.

The last few weeks have been especially stressful from mock exams to their clinics and not to mention their lease is going to be up soon and their landlord isn’t even sure yet if he wants to keep renting the accommodation. Safe to say, they’re stressed to the max. Sasuke’s been working double the work too since the last time their clinic lost their case. They’re segueing into spring break starting tomorrow so Naruto wanted to start it on a lighter note.

“Keep your eyes closed,” Naruto navigates around his boyfriend to quickly check the water temperature, dipping two fingers in. It’s perfectly lukewarm.

“Can I open now?” Sasuke’s voice drags a little and Naruto can tell he probably wants to crash into bed as soon as possible. So, he wipes down his hand on the side of his sweatpants and treads over to stand in front of his boyfriend. Placing a hand on Sasuke’s chest that he drags up to his shoulder, lightly at first and then with a slight pressure, “yeah.”

Dark eyes meet his and blink to adjust to the surroundings, the candles flickering over the sink reflect in the hidden grey of Sasuke’s eyes, “What’s all this?”

“You’ve had a few stressful weeks, and I just thought I wanted to do something relaxing for you…” Suddenly the whole thing sounds ridiculous to Naruto. They could’ve ordered takeout and bummed on the couch, but. “It’s stupid but—“

Sasuke’s head turns towards the bathtub, the water glitters a little, “It’s not stupid.” Heat crawls up Naruto’s neck, he preens under the knowledge he was successful somewhat, “Where’d you get all this stuff anyway?”

Naruto excitedly gesticulates, waving his hands in the air, “Oh, this store between 86th and 2nd! They had all kinds of stuff, Sakura told me about it. Sasuke we have to go there again. Everything smells so good and they keep giving you free lotion!”

Naruto showcases one of the bottles he’d grabbed; the lady had used it on his hands.

Sasuke cracks into a smile, a chuckle passing pink of lips, “I don’t think it’s free, Naruto. Those are just samples, you’ve gotta pay for the actual thing.”

Blue eyes widen innocently as the blond nods with a frown, “Oh no. I should probably return that then.”

Sasuke whistles into a laugh. Quickly shifting to his previously excited countenance, “Well, whatever! It was still cool and everyone was _so_ nice when I told them I wanted to do something special for my boyfriend—“

“You told them you were there for me?”

“Uh-huh,” Naruto distractedly reaches back and grabs one of the essential oil bottle and flourishes it in front of Sasuke, “See this is supposed to help you relax and stuff. Loosen your muscles.”

“So, I just get in the tub then?”

“Pretty much.”

Sasuke looks between the bathtub and Naruto. Yawning into his shoulder he asks, “I’m pretty tired. Are you going to help me undress?”

Naruto maneuvers back in front of Sasuke; hands now coming to his flannel that’s open, he pushes at shirt off the man’s shoulders, “Yeah, I got you.”

It’s when Naruto is grabbing the hem of the shirt Sasuke was wearing underneath the open flannel, the man’s hand comes to grab the blonde’s wrist—loose but secure. “You’re so stupid.”

“Huh?” There is barely any time to glance up and take in the raven’s words. The next thing Naruto’s seeing is the teasing smirk Sasuke’s always wearing, bringing the blonde closer until they’re chest to chest and kissing him on the mouth. Naruto slackens at the contact, Sasuke’s mouth is warmer than their apartment than the bath he’d run, than his own skin.

Naruto draws back first and it’s Sasuke who’s chasing after the touch, an uncharacteristic whine escaping him, “I’m trying to do something nice for you!”

“Who said that can’t include you?” Sasuke rolls his eyes and Naruto flushes.

Perturbed he feigns offense, “I wasn’t part of the package.”

“I’m supposed to enjoy this bath all alone?” Sasuke raises a brow.

Naruto bites down on his bottom lip, this time he does catches Sasuke’s eyes following the action, it tickles a flame in his chest, “There isn’t enough space for two people.” Then he grumbles, scratching his cheek, “This shithole of a tub can only fit one of us.”

“Wanna bet?” Sasuke wagers.

Sasuke waits for an answer. Naruto grabs the bottom of his own shirt and tugs it over his head. Rubbing the nape of his neck, fully aware he’s turning a bright lobster red, he shrugs glancing sideways, “Alright, how do we do this?”

They work out the logistics and who would’ve thought two grown men could fit into a tiny enamel bathtub.

Naruto’s back touches one end and Sasuke’s the other, the man’s skin glistens with the water that had splashed on his chest as he was getting in and the blonde’s really trying to keep it together. Sasuke’s foot is next to his hipbone, and Naruto’s got his hands uselessly sitting in his lap. This is awkward.

Until it isn’t. Because that’s not them, not really, and when Sasuke asks about his trip to the store where he got everything and what he had for lunch. Naruto easily slips into routine talk, fleetingly aware of Sasuke’s nails scratching over his left ankle. Somehow halfway through his rant about Sai picking on him again at work, Sasuke huffs into a laugh and Naruto halts in his tirade of grievances against his coworker.

“What?” Sasuke stops mid-laugh. He’d run a hand through his hair, so half his bangs are slicked back whereas two locks of strands frame his face, his forehead that’s rarely on display peeking out. Naruto scoots closer and cups Sasuke’s face in his palms and kisses him, light and soft.

Sasuke’s covers the back of his hand and inquires, “What was that for?”

“I like it when you smile because of me.” Naruto scrunches his nose, shy for some reason although it’s only Sasuke. He’d tell Sasuke everything. He _does_ tell Sasuke everything. This though quivers a sense of vulnerability in him he didn’t even think existed, not fear necessarily, but the idea of adoring someone so naturally. There hasn’t been a day—even before this whole relationship of theirs—where he hadn’t sought to make the other smile. Sasuke’s happiness. Sasuke’s burdens. Naruto wants to be there for all of them.

He feels selfish wishing for it all.

Sasuke must read something on his face because he leans back in, another hand coming to touching Naruto’s chest and the blonde can tell how his heart is furiously beating under the tender affection. He kisses Naruto, solid and firm. There is purpose in his touch, infinitely searing the feeling into Naruto.

The blonde craves more so he pries the other’s mouth open, his tongue searching for the others’, humming at the back of his throat when Sasuke syncs into what he wants. They’re always so busy, one thing after another, that Naruto realizes he seldom gets the chance to make out with his boyfriend. Sasuke isn’t necessarily sweet when he kisses. There is ferocity in the way his mouth opens, his tongue laps around Naruto’s and it’s a resounding realization that Sasuke probably wants Naruto as much as the blonde wants him.

Still, there is a gentleness to his touch, fingers gingerly brushing the back of Naruto’s hands. A contrast to how his mouth works Naruto’s.

They draw back, softly panting into the lull of quiet in the bathroom, “What was that for?”

“I wanted to kiss my boyfriend.” Sasuke sounds breathless. Naruto’s stomach churns pleasantly knowing he’s stolen it. Arching forward, Sasuke kisses below Naruto’s jaw, peppers down to the jut of his collarbones. Naruto’s head spins, the scent of the oils from the baths, the nearness of Sasuke, the heat pricking on his skin overwhelming him.

The raven bites the skin there, teasing it between his sharp teeth, a hiss slipping from Naruto’s already gaping mouth. Once he’s lapped over the blushing red that spots over the wells of his clavicle he moves down to his sternum. The kisses here are featherlike. Briefly grazing over him until he’s traveled to his pecs.

Through thick dark eyelashes even deeper black eyes glance up at him, mouth stamping kisses ceaselessly on him, he breathes, “Still with me, Naruto?”

Naruto’s so taken by the gaze that’s intensely focused on him that he buries his hands into the wealth of Sasuke’s hair, drawing his head up to himself, and he’s at the edge of a smile when their mouths meet, in between the presses he mutters, “Always with you.”

Sasuke laughs into his mouth, amused by the line clearly. Which should be weird, but it’s them. Laughing into each other. Naruto wonders if he can store the sound.

Naruto doesn’t recall how they make it out of the bathroom, wet and dripping but wrapped in towels. But he does find himself flat on his back on Sasuke’s bed. The other man hovers over him, kissing his knee at first, then the side of his ribs and Naruto’s got his heart on the line. Sasuke’s the one who’s got the hook.

There is an unbearably soft kiss left on his forehead, Sasuke’s mouth touches the bridge of his nose next, then slant to fit the shape of his mouth. Naruto bites down on Sasuke’s bottom lip and when they pull apart there is saliva threading between the two.

Sasuke’s never looked at him like this before. Naruto almost feels compelled to look away.

He never gets that far because Sasuke’s kissing him again. The way his fingers touch Naruto’s hair, his mouth explores him speaks intimacy and more—so much, so terrifyingly huge.

Naruto wants to give it a name. He’s so selfish already.

~

“Why’d you skip class?” Karin staggers into the booth.

Naruto remains tight-lipped. Tipping his glass and suddenly very interested in his drink, “Y’know, stuff.”

“He ditched to have sex,” Suigetsu slides next to him, arm behind him over the booth seat. “Look at this face it’s fucking glowing.” Now turning Naruto’s face side to side by the chin.

“How would you even know that?” Naruto bargains and Jūgo is coming to sit next to Karin.

“Because I’m Suigetsu Hozuki and I know these things—it’s a talent, babe.” The white-haired man leers at Karin wittingly. “Take it for ugly here. She got some this morning.”

Karin squawks, “You’re disgusting go jump into the Hudson.”

“The point is I’m right.”

Jūgo steers past the comment and asks, “So, you and Sasuke are getting pretty serious, huh?”

_I love him_. Naruto thumbs the lip of his glass, “Mhm, I think so, yeah. Our parents know so.”

Karin’s face screws up for a fraction of a second. Suigetsu claps his shoulders, “Bro, I’m so happy for you.”

Naruto smiles placatingly, waiting for the redhead to weigh in, “Karin?”

“You know what I’m going to say so why bother asking?”

Frowning he ultimately gives in, “Why are you so against this? You’re not even giving it a chance—"

“Because I’m afraid you’re going to get hurt, Naruto. I care about you and—“

“And what? This is how you show your support?”

“You’re in love with him!” It’s Jūgo who touches her arm to settle her down. She says the next sentence a lot more calmly, “Aren’t you?”

“I am,” it’s so easy to say out loud even though it’s a first. “That was the whole point right, date and fall in love? That’s what happened then I don’t know why you’d be unless—“ Karin’s frowning. Naruto’s stomach feels like a hot ball of lead. Oh. _Oh_. “You don’t think he’s in love with me….”

“Naruto…” She starts.

Suigetsu touches his knee, “man, she’s just worried.”

Naruto’s deaf to the reassurances, “He told you something. Didn’t he?”

Karin squirms under the question before releasing a grating sigh, “He…This is all new Naruto you’re his best friend.”

He can feel the stinging in his eyes. “What’d he say, Karin?”

“Nothing! He didn’t say anything! I’m just.”

Somehow that’s even worse. He excuses himself, no longer in the mood to hang out. Suigetsu chases after him but he shrugs him off saying he needs time alone.

~

Sakura’s birthday is a pool party. Apparently, her parents are loaded. Naruto takes advantage of the free-flowing alcohol and gets absolutely hammered. Karin and he are still avoiding each other, and the rest of their friend group hasn’t badgered either to ask what’s up and by rest of the group, it’s only Sasuke who’s left in the dark. Speaking of, the man is currently talking to Shikamaru who somehow knew Sakura through Temari who knew her from her cousin’s ex and god, he can’t even see straight.

Forgetting he’s in public he plasters himself to his boyfriend’s back. Boyfriend. He fucking loves thinking that. Saying that. Sasuke startles momentarily only to wind an arm around Naruto’s waist to steady him. Naruto happily mumbles into Sasuke’s cheek, leaving behind a wet splotchy saliva stain, “Sasukeeee, Suigetsu said he’ll get me a martini, but he never did.”

Shikamaru asks, amused, “Hi to you too, Naruto.”  
  


“How about we go find Sui, huh?” Sasuke suggests and Naruto waves back at their friend, “Tell Temari I said hi!”

Suigetsu’s holding two glasses maneuvering around the floaties that have been discarded outside of the pool, “Oh, I was looking for you!”

“My martini!” Naruto cheers reaching forward but Sasuke pushes the drink away. “Naruto you know you can’t have too many martinis.”  
  


“Why not?” He pouts. Suigetsu nods to asking, “Yeah, why?”

“Because he turns into that crazy old host of family feud and kisses everyone on the mouth,” Sasuke explains and on cue, Naruto’s stumbling into Suigetsu, ready to kiss him. The platinum-haired man lets him kiss his cheek, “Oh, he’s gone _gone_.”

Sasuke pulls him back into his chest and Naruto giggles, turning around to kiss Sasuke’s nose. He mumbles, “I like kissing you most.”

“Yes, I know,” Sasuke kisses at the base of his neck.

After that Suigetsu disappears into a throng of people, and the music blares all around them. Naruto sways in Sasuke’s arms and mutters sheepishly, “Sorry, I drank so much.” He’s squinty-eyed, all pink-cheeked, but Sasuke’s got the fondest expression in place that Naruto’s never witnessed before.

Sasuke laughs into his shoulder, “That’s okay. As long as you’re having fun.”

“Sasuke, what drink messes you up?”  
  


Thinking for a moment, he replies, “Bourbon. I start beatboxing for some reason.”

Naruto snorts, “Oh, yeah. We’ve been meaning to tell you but you kinda suck at it.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, “This is why I stay away from it.”

“Gin makes me fight, but I think Daiquiris make Suigetsu really into himself,” Naruto muses.

“I don’t think Daiquiris have anything to do with that.”

He’s shortlisting all the insane effects different alcohols have on them when a familiar head of red pops in next to them. Coiling further into Sasuke, Naruto avoids Karin’s gaze, “Did you two want some pizza?”  
  


“Sure,” Sasuke says right as Naruto interrupts, “No, thanks.”

“Naruto, c’mon, at least eat,” she tries.

“What is going on between you two?”

Karin pauses, but Naruto decides he’s not really mad. He just hates feeling the other shoe will drop any second now and he’s been shifting those negative emotions to Karin’s really valid concerns.

“Nothing,” Naruto glumly offers, extending his hand to Karin who takes it happily. She smiles up at him fond and squeezes his palm, “Nothing’s wrong.”

Karin agrees, “Nothing two stale jumbo dogs and a couple of beers can’t fix.”

Sasuke’s not sold but he doesn’t prod further. Afterward, Karin apologizes and Naruto hugs her and has his damn martini.

Thankfully before he can kiss any more people, Sasuke’s guiding him back home. It’s when they’re walking from the station to their building that his feet hurt so he complains. Sasuke offers to carry him on his back and Naruto’s heart flutters so rapidly he thinks a hummingbird snuck past his ribs. Firm, steady hands grip his thighs, holding up his weight, while his chest touches Sasuke’s back through their thin shirts, “Sasuke, I’m hungry.”

“The only thing that’s open right now is the Chinese restaurant a street from ours,” Sasuke recalls.

“I could go for some dumplings.”

They get takeout and Naruto holds the bag with one hand and wraps the other around Sasuke’s shoulder—still being carried, thank you very much.

“Am I a good boyfriend?”

Sasuke says flatly, “The absolute worst.”

“Nooooooo, Sasuke, you’re supposed to say I’m the _best_.”

“I’m carrying you up this hill this is all you’re getting out of me.”

Naruto bites the top of Sasuke’s ear who nearly drops the blonde out of surprise, “Ha! Ha!”

“Dumbass, you could’ve gotten hurt.”

“Again, with that, why can’t you call me something romantic?”

“Not this again.”

“Karin calls—”

Sasuke clutches onto him tighter, “I know, I know, what she calls Sakura.”

They finally come to their front door, blearily treading to their floor and door. Naruto asks, “Then?”

“What do you want to be called Naruto?”

Naruto contemplates chewing the inside of his cheek, his skin warms up as he crosses the distance between him and his boyfriend. Sasuke sets the takeout on the side table, closing the door when he gets a handful of Naruto, and whispers drunkenly, hesitantly, “Can I be your baby?”

He could’ve sworn Sasuke will push him again or laugh at him or throw him onto the couch. Instead, Sasuke slips a hand under his shirt, fingers brushing up his spine, sending a tingle along the way, “Of course, you’re my baby.” Naruto nudges into the palm Sasuke’s got around his face, but then the bastard ruins the moment by adding, “Dumbass.”  
  


Naruto squawks completely horrified, pulling back, “You’re the worst!”

Sasuke can’t hold back his laugh but does his best to draw the blonde back in, “ _My bad_ , won’t do it again.”  
  


“I need a new boyfriend!” Naruto tries to slip from his grasp, body turned in the opposite direction now, “This one is a complete dickhead.”

“No, new boyfriend. This one is super sorry.” Sasuke’s palm is flat on his stomach when he tugs Naruto back into his embrace, he mumbles into the crook of his neck, “Please forgive me.”

Naruto chides inwardly at how he _blushes,_ and his toes curl and he is ready to elbow Sasuke in the gut, but the other is guiding his chin so their mouths meet in a kiss, wet and noisy. Sasuke is greedy how he licks into his mouth and now Naruto’s weak in the knees for a different reason altogether.

Forgetting all else they stumble into the bedroom and Naruto quickly sheds the other out of his clothes and midway through heavy petting and hungry kisses the conversation from Thursday invades the crevices of his mind. _He doesn_ _’_ _t love you_.

Naruto draws back, “The dumplings.”

Sasuke’s panting erratically, hands-on Naruto’s thighs, “What?”

“The dumplings. Sasuke we didn’t eat the dumplings.”

“We can after this,” he leans in to kiss again but Naruto pulls back, too distraught to go on and Sasuke senses the shift because he soothingly touches his ankle, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I love dumplings.”

“I know.”

“I really _really_ love dumplings.” The desperation to make Sasuke understand slips through.

But he only stares back in mild confusion, “I know that, Naruto.”

Inhaling a raggedy breath, eyes a little misty, he declares, “It’s I don’t know what I’ll do if I never have them again.”

Naruto falls asleep a little after that, but the last thing he does remember is Sasuke kissing his temple.

The next morning, Naruto goes home to his mom and dad. Sasuke texts him to ask _you okay?_

Naruto can only reply _Just need a little time to myself, don't worry._

~

Naruto quickly realizes time alone isn’t all that great. Sasuke has intertwined into every facet of his life and Naruto isn’t ready to unmoor this thread.

He misses Sasuke.

Karin calls him on a Saturday and Naruto almost doesn’t pick up, but then she says something else instead of a greeting, “You’re a fucking idiot.”

“So, you’ve told me, Karin.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“You were right…” He cuts himself off. “Thought it was clear.”

“You finally decide to listen to me, but the wrong thing too. Why do you think things never worked out with any of Sasuke’s ex’s?”

“I’m so confused, what does that have to do with anything?”

“Sometimes things need to fall apart to make way for better things. You two were the better thing, Naruto.”

“How can I be sure?”

She sighs tiredly, “Just look at how he looks at you.”

After a week of being apart, he goes home. One he didn’t think to call home.

~

The pavement gives way to a familiar set of steps that lead up to the door of his apartment building. Spring dances around the corner in how the trees shake away tawny leaves. Naruto’s aware that the sun is ducking behind him, the sky’s opened its canvas to a million hues of the same orange and yellow it carries every single day, but he’s not ready for the day to be over. And now that he’s here, he certainly doesn’t expect Sasuke sitting on the steps listlessly tossing his phone in between in his hands.

“What are you doing out here?”

Sasuke doesn’t look up, in fact, there isn’t any significant movement on his part aside from thumbing his phone open. “I’ve been sitting out here for the better part of the last hour and a half deciding whether I should make this call or not.” 

At last warm grayish-black eyes dart up, “Still not sure whether I should do it.”

Naruto shifts somewhat uncomfortably, coming back home he had a whole speech prepared, a mindset he’d rolled into, but.

“Is it important.” He then clarifies, “The call, I mean.”

Clutching the phone tightly, Sasuke responds, the inflection of his words vibrating his fervor, “Really important.”

Donning the role, he’s worn ardently since the very beginning, Naruto offers helpfully, “The Sasuke I know isn’t indecisive. So, I think you do know whether you want to or not.”

“You’re right.” Sasuke scrolls down his call log; Naruto can see from where he’s standing. After a passing second, he clicks dial and the screen blacks out momentarily.

What Naruto doesn’t expect is his own phone vibrating. Chalking it up to coincidence he lets it go to voicemail, or he intends to, but then Sasuke’s steadying his gaze through his own sinking one, “You should get that. It might be important.”

Naruto’s throat feels drier than the Sahara in that moment. Lo and behold, the caller ID reads his favorite name.

“Sasu—“

“Hi.”

Standing in close proximity but hearing someone’s voice through a speaker has a peculiar effect. The voice comes out echoey but there is closeness present he wouldn’t think of otherwise.

Sighing he breathes, “Hello.”

“Naruto, did you have time? I wanted to talk about something—as your best friend; not your roommate, not your classmate, but your best friend.”

Naruto leans against the railing that flanks the steps ascending to the front door of their building, pivoting away from the other man he says, “Sure.” No idea what Sasuke’s up to, but whatever derails his own plans he figures.

“I met this guy.” Naruto’s chest tightens.

The ache in his throat swells, “A guy?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke’s breath is even and light. He’s happy, Naruto can tell. The idea of him being happy does alleviate the pain a little. “Didn’t think I’d be here saying this, but a couple of months ago I started feeling differently about him. You know, after all, it wasn’t my intention—nor did I plan on this.”

Naruto’s throat constricts at the thoughts spinning in his head, he manages a soft hum to encourage Sasuke to continue. “He’s different—life of the party, all too kind, but that’s not all you know? At first, I really thought I didn’t like him. Opposites in every regard, but then the more I saw him it felt like I was drawn to him.”

He expels into a breathless laugh, “And that was so long ago. Would you believe me if I said he’s simultaneously the stupidest human I’ve ever encountered and still stupidly smart?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Naruto finds himself voicing.

“You wouldn’t?” Sasuke’s so, so quiet that Naruto doesn’t hear him behind him, just in the speaker of the phone.

Braving himself to say the next words, he musters, “If you like him you should let him know, Sasuke. Any guy—anyone, in fact—would be lucky to be with you.”

“I’m trying. He’s just not listening.”

“Maybe you’re right then, he sounds pretty stupid.”

Sasuke chuckles, low and breathy that Naruto can tell he’s biting on a smirk, “Yeah, that thick head of blonde is obstructing any thinking inside that puny brain of his.”

Naruto freezes. But the other man continues, “Say, if he knows me best. Then how come he doesn’t know how I feel? Thought best friends had all that figured out. Know your heart.”

“You know mine,” Naruto finishes for him, abruptly turning to a Sasuke who’s standing now. He asks into the speaker, “Hey, Naruto, you think I got a shot?”

Across the chasm of a few centimeters, Sasuke stands with his head tilted a smidge. Face open and speaking so loud, as Karin had said. Naruto’s whole world stares at him in an unasked question.

Naruto hangs up, crossing the distance between them, “I think you win the game.”

“Better me than the Knicks then,” Sasuke kids.

They both erupt into quiet laughter.

His hand trembles exactly once. It’s all too reminiscent of the first time he held Sasuke's face. This time he only reaches his hand when the other man is readily offering his own, “You didn’t say.”

Sasuke’s kindness is inundated through his actions, although right now he’s awfully gentle in his words, “All you had to do was ask.”

Of course, he cries. Because when has he not cried when thing gets all too overwhelming in the best possible way. He’s surrounded by the love he wants and he’s drowning in it happily, “I thought—it just seemed like—this is a dream—you are—“

Again, he looks like said dream. The whole damn dream, if you ask him. Naruto has to hold his breath to not say it out loud.

“You’re an ugly crier.”

He blinks. Appalled. Fat tears still rolling down his round cheeks. “You’re a fucking asshole.”

Sasuke laughs at him, index finger looped around Naruto’s, “No seriously, Naruto, you’re so not pretty when you cry.”

“And I am otherwise?” He whines through watery eyes.

“Yes.”

Naruto blushes. Cuffing Sasuke’s shoulder, he demands, “Can you just—“

“What?”

“I hate you.”

Sasuke ducks in and steals a fleeting kiss, Naruto doesn’t allow him to stray far, sliding his hands over the other’s shoulders to wring behind his neck. “Impossible.”

“So, about that six months deal?” Sasuke rocks Naruto even closer to him. “What do you say if we extend it?”

“Well, it depends, are you going to keep being an ass to me?” Naruto ponders thoughtfully to which Sasuke bites his cheek. "You know, I can't help it." Naruto laughs into a hug, burying his nose into Sasuke’s shoulder, “How about indefinitely then?”

Sasuke squeezes him tight in an answer.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos and all that jazz!
> 
> p.s i know sns arent the ‘baby’ saying type but like it was simply something i wrote in for a friend and tried to sns-ify. smh.


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